Haifa Underdogs

Haifa Underdogs
Team logo
Established 2005
Based in Haifa
Home ground Yokneam Stadium
Head coach Ori Shterenbach
League Israeli Football League
League titles 1 (in 2006, before the merge of IFL and AFI)
Current uniform
Uniform

The Haifa Real Housing Underdogs is an amateur American football team based in Haifa, Israel, playing in the Israeli Football League (IFL).

Haifa Underdogs was established at 2005, the year that the IFL was established. In 2007 team became a part of the IFL which was at the time joined under the AFI (American Football in Israel).

Contents

History

The 90's and 2000's - Unofficial games

American football in Haifa has been played weekly since the 90's and in the turn of the century, was mainly located at Haifa's "Sportec" field. The games were unofficial, and gathered players from Haifa, Krayot, Nahariya, Ein HaShofet, and from other places in the North of Israel. Parallel to those games, similar games took place at Tel Aviv's "Sportec" field played by the residents of Gush Dan. Once a month or so, friendly games were scheduled between the Haifa's players and Tel Aviv's players. Most of those games ended with the victory of Tel Aviv's team, which in turn lead to the Haifa's team name, the Underdogs, reminding the players that the team's place and respect must be earned each time they take the field.

2005-06 Season - The Israeli Football League

In 2005 the club was established as Haifa's first and only representative in the Israeli Football League. In the season of 2005-06, the club won the first ever IFL championship. In the finals, that took place at the Baptist village, on June 23 2006, the Underdogs defeated the Tel Aviv Pioneers by the score of 37-14.

2006-07 Season - First fully equipped season

In 2007, the IFL, and the Underdogs along with it, joined forces with the AFI to form the first fully equipped tackle football league in Israel. The equipment meets the NCAA standards. In its first season, the league featured 4 teams: Haifa Underdogs, Tel Aviv Sabres, Tel Aviv Pioneers, and Jerusalem Lions. Some of the players that participated in the unofficial games in Haifa were the ones to become the coaches and captains of the Underdogs club, and together with their colleagues from Tel Aviv, and the AFI, founded the Israeli (tackle) Football League.

2007-Present - Israeli Football League

In the season of 2007-08, Haifa Underdogs won over Ha'Sharon Pioneers team in the semi finals, but lost in the finals to the Jerusalem Lions in overtime, at the end of the inaugural season, after a very tight game.

In 2008-09 season, the league grew up to 5 teams. at that season, the Underdogs were undefeated for most of the season, losing their last two games to the Jerusalem Lions and Modi'in Pioneers. Haifa Underdogs finished the regular season in the 2nd place. The Underdogs were again knocked out of the playoffs by the Jerusalem Lions on a touchdown pass with 5 seconds remaining in the game. The Underdogs later won the consolation game against the Jerusalem Kings.

In 2009-10 season, the team was coached by Jay Armstead and Alan Hearn. Captained by Itamar Levin, Niv Medlinger, Roei Ziv, and Shahar Yeshurun, this season also started good to the Underdogs, standing in the middle of the season in first place with 4-1 score, in a league of 7 clubs. Nevertheless, the Underdogs couldn't get another victory in the rest of the season, not in the remaining 5 matches of the regular season, nor the wild card game against the Judean Rebels.

Logos and uniforms

The team's uniforms are black with yellow, with the club's logo of a bulldog on the crest.

Stadium

The lack of fields in Haifa is a problem for the Underdogs. There is one soccer stadium in the city (Kiryat Eliezer Stadium) but cannot be used for any purposes other than soccer. Many venues have rejected the Underdogs' requests to be named as the Underdogs' home field. As of the 2007-08 season, the Underdogs played their home games at Kibbutz Ein HaShofet, outside of Haifa.

Shortly after the start of the 2008-09 season, the Underdogs changed their home stadium to Yokneam Stadium. The new field, located near the Yokneam Mall, is closer to Haifa and overall a better field.

Current roster

Roster — accurate as of December 28, 2009.

No. Name Position Height (m) Weight (kg) Age
2 Shahar Yeshurun WR, QB, S 1.90m 96 kg 24
4 Alex Fries TE, DE 1.93m 107 kg 28
5 Roey Ziv QB, TE, LB 1.80m 86 kg 27
6 Yuval Hochberg QB, CB 1.82m 68 kg 17
7 Dagan Sadrinas CB 1.78m 72 kg 29
10 Johny Khoury DL, OL 1.83m 118 kg 18
11 Niv Lifschits WR, DB 1.77m 75 kg 17
20 Tal Yeshurun RB, LB 1.85m 84 kg 21
23 Niv Medlinger RB/LB 1.71m 102 kg 28
25 Guy Bershadsky RB, LB 1.71m 79 kg 26
27 Talor Bearman RB, LB, CB 1.72m 85 kg 25
30 Dan Vardi DB 1.82m 76 kg 22
33 Liron Rosenblat OL, DL 1.80m 110 kg 26
35 Harrison Bailey RB, LB 1.75m 86 kg 22
36 Ziv Cohen WR, DB 1.83m 83 kg 27
37 Yoav Cohen WR, CB 1.75m 71 kg 23
42 Ilan Rotberg OL,DL 1.83m 90 kg 24
44 Jay Armstead OL 1.84m 88 kg 39
51 Haim Nanikashvili LB 1.87m 100 kg 28
53 Losha Ivlev LB 1.73m 92 kg 29
54 Igal Schneider RB, DE 1.72m 82 kg 33
55 Arbel Rom WR, CB 1.75m 67 kg 33
56 Konstantin Stolyarsky RB, LB 1.74m 85 kg 31
60 Yotam Berant DL, OL 1.80m 95 kg 19
66 Gal Hochberg C, DL 1.87m 100 kg 21
70 Alan Hearn RB, DL 1.85m 112 kg 34
71 Itamar Levin RB, LB 1.72m 96 kg 27
77 Erez Kaminski OL,DE 1.89m 95 kg 19
81 Erez Baharav RB, CB 1.65m 63 kg 29
84 Meir Halachmi WR 1.87m 87 kg 17
89 Roy Rubin WR, CB 1.83m 75 kg 20
92 Ben Friedman OL, DL 1.83m 102 kg 28
93 Gabriel Israelov OL, DL 1.90m 160 kg 28
97 Itamar Gutman OL, DT 1.92m 110 kg 24
98 Craig Morris OL, DL 1.68m 112 kg 38
99 Alex Primak OL, DL 1.94m 130 kg 28

Coaching History

Year Coach Trophies
2005–2006 Ori Shterenbach Champions. *
2007–2008 Ori Shterenbach Finalist.
2008–2009 Ori Shterenbach Lost in the semi finals to Jerusalem Lions.
2009–2010 Jay Armstead Lost in playoffs to Judean Rebels.
2010–2011 Ori Shterenbach Finished 1-9, failed to reach playoffs.

* before the merge of IFL and AFI

Managerial history

Sponsors

Since the team's establishment, the main sponsor of the team is the real estate company "Real Housing", managed by Chaim and Nancy Brown.

External references