Israel’s national women’s and men’s flag football teams logged a lot of time in the air this summer, traveling to Canada for the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) Flag World Championships and to Le Havre, France for the largest European flag football tournament of the year.

The women’s team finished fifth overall at the world championships and the men’s team finished seventh among competitors from 13 countries and three continents.

“While our overall results may have been a little disappointing, this tournament really solidified Israel’s place as a contender on the international scene of American football,” women’s tem coach Yonah Mishaan reflected. “It says something positive about Israeli amateur sport though, that fifth place in the world is no longer good enough as we continue to strive to be the best.”

The delegation , whose July trip to Montreal for the world championships was backed by New England Patriots owners Robert and Myra Kraft and David and Gladys Blank of Jerusalem, also spent a lot of time off the field visiting the Montreal Jewish community The squads enjoyed meeting and dining with the Jewish residents of the area with the help of Yosi Deitcher, and also attended events at Bnai Brith of Canada, local synagogues and fieldturf, a fellow sponsor of the national teams and the world leader in artificial grass for football fields.

The previous month the national women’s team won its second straight international title by defeating Canada and Germany in the semi-finals and finals respectively at the 2008 Le Havre tournament. The squad also won the championship at the 2007 Big Bowl in Germany. Joining the national women’s team at this year’s Le Havre tournament were the Jerusalem Wolves, another women’s squad led by coach Yossi Fuchs, making their first appearance in an international competition. The Wolves reached the semi-finals and came tantalizingly close to a dream showdown in the final against their Israeli sisters.

The national flag football teams are part of American Football in Israel, a nonprofit organization based at Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem, which is the country’s official governing body for the sport. AFI is the umbrella organization for the Israel Football league, in addition to flag football leagues and activities for all ages.

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For more information on AFI, and the Israel Football League, visit www.israelfootball.net