Hannah Magarian, MN Elite '15 goalie, is part of the Team Israel Women's U19 team. This December, Hannah will join her Team Israel teammates for training and playing exhibition games in Israel and Poland. Team Israel will play the Poland and Latvian National teams. Israel will play in their first Women's U19 World Cup at the Federation of International Lacrosse's next event in July 2015 in Scotland.
Follow along as Hannah posts about her amazing lacrosse adventure!
Day 1: Meeting my Team Israel teammates for the first time
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| Hannah (far right) meets up with her teammates at JFK airport |
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Day 2: We arrived in Poland and visited the Warsaw Ghetto, then we walked around and saw all the Christmas Spirit and the beautiful tree below!
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| Our luggage piled up in the aisle to the ceiling | on our bus ride |
Day 3: Our team toured around Jerusalem, seeing many historic and famous sites.
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| Visiting the Western Wall in Old City in Jerusalem, on the western side of the Temple Mount. |
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| More touring of the Jewish Quarter |
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A cool view of the underground part
of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. |
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A view from Yad Veshem in Jerusalem,
the biggest Holocaust Memorial in the world |
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| Another view from Yad Veshem |
Day 4: 7 A.M. Start to the day with breakfast then training. Lots of lacrosse action today!
Day 5: What an exciting day! Teaching lacrosse to youth girls, playing in the first ever women's lacrosse game played in Israel, and catching some of the beautiful scenery at the beach!
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| At the beach in Ashkelon after teaching Lacrosse at a school nearby all morning |
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| Getting intense before our big game. Our game was the first women's lacrosse match in Israel! Woot! |
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| After running a clinic in Ashkelon with these amazing kid. GROWING THE GAME!! |
Article about Israel's first women's lacrosse game
HERE
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| This is the desert surrounding Masada - it's massive |
Day 6: Up bright and early for our trek to Masada, an ancient fortification in the southern part of
Israel. It's situated on top of an isolated rock plateau on the eastern edge
of the Judaean Desert and overlooks the Dead Sea.
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| The stairs (lots of them!) leading up to Masada |
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| Some of my teammates and me at the top of Masada |
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| The Israel flag on top of Masada |
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| The trek down |
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| Camels hanging out in the desert! |
Day 7: Today all of the girls (who were assigned before the trip to an Israeli club) played each other. I represented Team Ashkelon. After a couple games and practice we went to an Orthodox synagogue then followed services up with a traditional Shabbat Dinner. After dinner, we shared a special moment together. Then, each player's name was called and we received our Team Israel jersey!
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| Traditional Shabat dinner today |
Day 8: After a long night with no sleep, I mean NO sleep (Our night started at the Israel Lacrosse Embassy and ended on our flight at 6 to Poland in the morning) we went to Triblinka, which was a Concentration Camp. We then checked into our Hotel in Poland.
The next day we woke up and ate a great breakfast at the hotel with traditional Polish food. Then we traveled to a turf field in a dome and played Poland. We played Poland in the morning and won with a score of 3-15. The boys played Latvia and lost, but played a tough game. We played Poland again in the afternoon and won again 8-2. Now we are back at the hotel and about to go to a Greek restaurant!
Day 9: Today was our last day of our whole trip. We woke up in the morning and traveled to the airport. I managed to spill a smoothie all over a restaurant countertop and 3 people. The flight was smooth and I did not spill anything!!
When we arrived at JFK airport it was really hard to say goodbye to everyone. I made such great friends and a bond with Israel that will last forever. I am so grateful for this incredible experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Yallah Israel :)
Day 7: Today all of the girls (who were assigned before the trip to an Israeli club) played each other. I represented Team Ashkelon. After a couple games and practice we went to an Orthodox synagogue then followed services up with a traditional Shabbat Dinner. After dinner, we shared a special moment together. Then, each player's name was called and we received our Team Israel jersey!
Day 8: After a long night with no sleep, I mean NO sleep (Our night started at the Israel Lacrosse Embassy and ended on our flight at 6 to Poland in the morning) we went to Triblinka, which was a Concentration Camp. We then checked into our Hotel in Poland.
