About us

About The FIFL

“Building Community in the Holy Land through Football”.

The Friends of the IFL (FIFL) was founded in 2015 by Jewish and Christian friends who love Israel and are passionate about football. Bringing together young men or women on a football team gives them tools and values for the rest of their lives. Jews, Christians and Muslims, religious, secular and ultra-Orthodox, native Israelis and new immigrants, all become one on our teams, working and striving for victory.

The game of football is one of the greatest teachers and meritocracies in the world. Hard work and perseverance, discipline and sacrifice, camaraderie, and teamwork are just some of the traits these young men and women must develop and refine as they prepare for a football game, as they prepare for their military service, and as they prepare for the rest of their lives.

The FIFL works in full cooperation with the Federation of American Football in Israel (AFI), working to meet the needs of the exciting, growing, yet costly sport of football in Israel. Both the FIFL and the AFI are lean and efficient organizations, and we make sure that we help develop all aspects of the greatest team sport in the world in the greatest land in the world!

FIFL’s Long term Goals

1. Football Fields. The IFL currently plays on rented soccer fields and we are planning for 8 full-sized high-school-style football fields all over Israel. With matching funds from the Israeli government, each field will cost us approximately $2 million.

2. Twenty Full Clubs. We are building our teams in the European ‘Club’ style. As we spread across the nation, every adult team will have a high school team and a pee-wee team under its auspices, for a total of 60 teams. The cost of player equipment alone for the entire program is estimated at over $1.5 million.

3. Endowment of $30 million. By building a strong endowment, we can guarantee the league’s long-term financial stability. Yes, it’s a big dream, but as Theodor Herzl the founder of modern Zionism said: ‘’If you will it, it is no dream’’.