Sadly, there are no families in Israel untouched from terrorist attack, a war, or an accident.
Everyone’s story is unique. There are so many people in Israel who went to serve their country and ended up with a very different life afterward. Some suffer from PTSD, some from depression, some from losing an arm, and some come back with a disability.
By the time Noam Gershony was 23, he lived a normal Israeli life. Joined the IDF as a pilot at 18, and had his next decade planned out for him: he just wanted to serve his country. Life, however, hardly aligns with our plans. During the 2006 Lebanon War, his helicopter crashed. Noam survived, his co-pilot and friend, Ran Yehoshua Kochva (37) died beside him.
How does one come back to living a fulfilling life after crashing from 6,000 feet, losing his friends while he himself is a medical miracle for having survived his own crash?
With Noam there are no excuses: “We all have a disability, without mine, I’d have not gone to the Olympics.”
6 years after his accident, Noam won a gold medal in wheelchairs tennis in Quad Singles and shared a bronze medal with Shraga Weinberg during the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
The journey to recovery is not easy, but it is POSSIBLE and this is WHY our project is launched.
Noam joined Beit Halochem sports and rehabilitation center in Tel Aviv and wanted to try out for all possible sports. He rediscovered tennis – a sport he enjoyed before his accident. He trained with coach Nimrod Bichler and as he says tennis gave him back his confidence.
This was one of the reasons why he said yes to support IATF’s new initiative: a collaboration across nations and cultures, with three main pillars:
- to offer a holistic approach to tennis coaching;
- to offer a safe haven for Jewish kids who want to play tennis;
- and to train the best wheelchair tennis players and their coaches, by bringing the know-how from the Israeli experiences.
IATF’s – which is a registered non-profit organization – goal is to help other countries learn from Israel because the normal Israeli life brings many young adults to accept a new reality with a disability. We believe that whether it is due to an illness, an accident or terror attack, or a war, sport can help kids and adults regain their lives and confidence.
The IATF team set out a heartening mission and built a team with every skill set to succeed.
Now, we need YOUR generous HELP that can make this mission come true and enabling us to pay it forward and make someone
else’s dream come true.
And we are not just talking, we really brought together a fantastic team:
Noam’s former coach, Nimrod Bichler:
Nimrod Bichler started playing tennis in Jerusalem at age 11, reached number 4 in the Israel National rankings under 18 in 1991. Started coaching kids in 1991, started coaching wheelchair tennis in 1996, led Shraga Weinberg and Noam Gershony to number 1 in the World Quads Ranking of wheelchair tennis, Weinberg in October 2001 and Gershony in September 2012. Led Noam Gershony to win the Gold Medal in singles in the quads division of the London Paralympic Games. Coached the Israeli National Quads Wheelchair Tennis Team to winning 1st place in the World Team Cup in 1999, 2000 and 2012. Led tens of other players, men, women, and quads to their career-high world rankings on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
Assaf Ingber, Founder, And President
Assaf has over 25 years of experience in managing tennis academies in Israel and the USA. Certified executive coach, ITF Level 2 with extensive experience working with pro players. He was the former coach and manager of Julia Glushko.
Ian Halperin, Chairman
No. 1 NYTimes bestselling author and an award-winning filmmaker. Directed a film against Roger Waters and BDS “Wish You Weren’t Here”. Mr. Halperin’s two greatest loves are Tennis and Judaism. He decided to devote himself to the IATF with the belief that its’ goals are of supreme value to Jewish people all over the world.
Shlomo Glickstein, Professional Director
As a former No. 22 in the world and the head of ‘Israeli Tennis Association’ for many years, Glickstein brings his experience and knowledge of developing, future leading coaches and players. He will visit all the clubs and camps and will lead the professional program of the project.
There are so many layers to the normal Israeli life and perhaps the most important of all is “kol yisrael arevim ze lah ze”. The mutual responsibility for each other both within Israel and in the Diaspora.
We hope from the bottom of our hearts that you value this project as much as we do and help us take it to the next levels.
“I really believe sport is one of the most important things in life. Especially for children and youth and I want children with disabilities to have the opportunity to play tennis with the right coach, equipment etc.” – Noam Gerhsony
