CRI听力:American Football Gains Popularity in Israel

A call of "set, hike" can be heard from a high school sports field, where helmets are smashing against pads.

Yet this is not a typical American hometown event. The players are teenage boys in Israel, where American-style football has been slowly gaining in popularity.

Itay Ashkenazi coaches local high school team the Hawks in the city of Kfar Saba. He explains the game's appeal.

"They fall in love with the atmosphere, they fall in love with the values we try to build up, you know, the team concept, the getting tough mentality and physicality during this game."

Coach Ashkenzai was a star quarterback in the adult Israel Football League until his retirement several seasons ago. Under his guidance, the Hawks have become Israel's four-time defending high school champions.

Around two thousand Israelis now play the game, thanks in part to support from people like New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who brought 19 Pro Football Hall of Famers on a visit to Israel earlier this summer.

In a country where military service is mandatory, American football offers the teenagers more than just athletic pleasure.

Captain of the Hawks Bar Shaul says the game has also prepared him for his time in the army.

"The values emphasized in football and the values emphasized in the army are the same values. It's that you depend on your friend and your friend depends on you and you look in his eyes and you are sure 100 percent that he will be there for you. I'm sure that is what it's like in the army and I know 100 percent that is how it's here, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Like many other places in the world, soccer and basketball still dominate the professional sports arena in Israel. But live NFL TV broadcasts and the growth of the Israel Football League have helped to acquaint Israelis with American football.

The game rules in Israel are different, however. The high school teams play 9-on-9 on a 60 yard field. They are forced to always go for two points after a touchdown, because there are no proper goal posts on any of the converted soccer fields they play on.

Koren Copelovitz is another player from the Hawks. He says the appeal of the game is precisely its sideline status, earning the players respect and appreciation.

"We get a lot of respect for being a football player, because everybody knows how hard we train and how hard we play and how much success we've had, this specific team, over the couple of few years, so you do get respect and friends and people do appreciate it."

Coach Ashkenazi comes from a military background. Son of a former Israeli military chief, he also used to serve as a special forces commando. Yet he says to him, football means more than just the military; it is the way of life that he is trying to instill in his young and impressionable players.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.