Tahlee Yichye, a sophomore at Eastern High School, will soon join the ranks of both Jewish-American and Israeli girls serving as the first-ever U19 National Israel lacrosse team.
With the official roster soon to be released, Yichye said the unique opportunity started with an email from Sarah Meisenberg, an Israel National Lacrosse player, who extended the invitation to her.
“They scoped out players who wanted to be on the team,” Yichye said.
Yichye said the search for Jewish lacrosse players to join the league was held on a national level.
Her mother, Daras Yichye, added that the team had very strict criteria in choosing girls from the United States to represent Israel.
“They examined Tahlee’s lacrosse games, made sure she had a passion for Israel, and researched to see if Tahlee was a good-hearted, well-rounded person and athlete,” Daras said.
After receiving the email from Meisenberg, Tahlee responded and subsequently scheduled a telephone interview with Meisenberg. Soon after, Tahlee received another email. This time, it was from the program director for the Israel Lacrosse Association, Julia Szafman.
“I’ve been there a few times in Israel, but not for anything as great as this,” Tahlee said.
While the dates are not set for security reasons, Daras said Tahlee’s trip to Israel will begin approximately on Dec. 21 and she will return on Dec. 30.
During her trip, Tahlee will train with the rest of her U19 teammates at Israel’s official Olympic training facility in Netanya, before then traveling to Warsaw, Poland, to compete against the Polish and Latvian National Lacrosse teams.
Even more exciting, Daras said that during training in Israel, members of the team would also be playing club teams and helping to teach the sport of lacrosse to Israel’s youth, since it is very new to the country.
“She’s like an ambassador for the U.S.,” Daras said.
Tahlee said she has very strong ties to Israel, with her father being an immigrant from Israel and having a great deal of family and friends living there. Her bat mitzvah was also held in Israel.
“I know Israel inside and out, and I’m happy to represent it in a positive light,” Tahlee said.
In addition, Tahlee is also involved with her local Jewish community center at Katz JCC in Cherry Hill, teaching gymnastics to preschoolers and will participate in the 2014 Maccabi games for girls lacrosse.
As far as future aspirations, Tahlee said she has not decided where she will attend college, but hopes to pursue a major in psychology. She also hopes to continue to play lacrosse on a collegiate level and added that she could see herself volunteering as a coach for recreational lacrosse in addition to her professional career.
However, for now, Tahlee is eagerly awaiting her trip to Israel.
“I’m super excited,” she said. “I can’t wait until December to jump on a plane and go.”
Daras also said she is proud of her daughter and the significant contribution she is making to the Israeli community.
“It’s an amazing opportunity and she’s one of a kind,” Daras said. “She’s going to be in the history books.”
She also said that since the Israel Lacrosse Association does not receive government funding, because it is such a young organization, Tahlee’s trip would be entirely self-funded.
Fundraising efforts by Tahlee have been aided by the association, such as providing a letter nominating her for the Jewish Community Foundation Grant. In the letter, Szafman outlines what it will mean for Tahlee Yichye to participate:
“Tahlee’s time in Israel will be particularly special because young girls here are rarely actively recruited for sports, especially team sports, while there are many programs for boys. In order to empower Israel’s young girls, it is important to have dedicated, talented and enthusiastic role models like Tahlee here in Israel. After spending time here, Tahlee will be able to act as an ambassador to her community at home by sharing her experience and encouraging others to get involved with Israel.”
Members of the community who would like to donate to Tahlee’s trip can do so by email at tollilolli1@yahoo.com or calling 282–7372.
