Elite Sports Department – General
The Elite Sports Department in Israel was established after the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and was jointly organized by three bodies: the Olympic Committee, the Israel Sports Association and the Sports and Physical Education Authority. In 1995, the Sports Association was disbanded and since then the Department has served as the professional arm of the Olympic Committee.
Mission of the Elite Sports Department
To help Israeli athletes achieve success in international competitions such as the Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships.
Role of the Elite Sports Department
1 – Assist and consult associations and federations in the planning and execution, support and control of short and long term programs for Elite Sports Department athletes ahead of a competition.
2 – Summary and analysis of the training processes and competitions.
3 – Support and nurture athletes and branches through the sports associations.
4 – Support coaches and professionals in Elite Sports through the sports associations.
Leading the Elite Sports Department are the directors with professional coordinators who come from the competitive sports world beneath them. Each professional coordinator is responsible for a number of Olympic disciplines according to their skills and knowledge.
Role of the Professional Coordinator
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- Monitor the implementation of the professional program (Olympic preparations).
- Coordinate and share professional knowledge in the relevant field – including organizing training programs and professional days for coaches and athletes in their respective fields.
- Coordinate with the Medical Services.
- Concentrate the various subjects which are under their responsibility.
Over the years, the Department has been expanded significantly with staff that has expertise in the field of sports performance and has also added a number of positions and projects in addition to the Professional Coordinator, such as: Medical Services, Women’s Sports (Top Team), Department of Young Athletes and more.
Department of Young Athletes: “Project 2020”
The Young Athletes Department as part of the Elite Sports Department is responsible for the professional management of the outstanding young athletes as well as for the professional and organizational management of the Israeli delegations that attend the Youth Olympic Games (YOG – Winter and Summer) and the European Olympic Youth Games (EYOF – Winter and Summer). The Young Athletes Department strives to help the sports associations create a long-term policy to nurture Israel’s next generation of athletes, a policy based on various platforms and interfaces that the associations currently have with the Elite Sports Department. There is a clearly a desire to significantly increase the project’s resources in order to enable the cultivation of the future generation of athletes.
The main objectives of the project are:
1) Assist the sports associations to determine and promote athletes with the greatest potential to reach the highest levels, with the first main objective being the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
2) Improve Israel’s performance in the international arena among youth and cadets.
3) Consistently increase the number of athletes who will graduate from the project to the adult Elite Sports Department and to the Israeli delegations going to future Olympic Games.
Main methods of action:
1) Support for professional programs: The budget for the young athletes project is intended mainly to help improve their professionalism while increasing their international experience.
2) Improve the medical-scientific services for the young athletes through ongoing support of the medical services, performing tests and working with psychologist consultants.
3) Strengthen and improve the professional knowledge of the coaches in all aspects of training youth through both focused and wide-ranging workshops.
Directors of the Elite Sports Department
The Elite Sports Department administration is a joint body of the Olympic Committee in Israel and the Sports Administration, whose purpose is to collaborate in determining the policy, goals and budgets required for the Elite Sports Department in Israel; to ensure the best conditions for the preparation of athletes for the Olympic Games; to ensure that the preparation for these games are done in the most professional manner. Members of the Administration are appointed once every four years, at the end of each Olympic year; the number of its members is determined jointly by the two bodies.
The principal functions of the directors are:
Assist in the coordination and development of Elite Sports at all levels, in full cooperation with the various sports associations.
Approve the multi-year and yearly plan and supervise the performance of the Elite Sports Department with the Elite athletes in full cooperation with the associations.
Follow the execution of the four-year professional escort of athletes with potential to reach the Olympic Games through the Elite Sports Department, associations and federations.
Recommend professional criteria for the participation of Israeli athletes in the Olympic Games in cooperation with the sports associations and federations in coordination with the Olympic Committee of Israel, the sole body responsible for the preparation and dispatch of delegates to the Olympic Games.
Coordinate sports support grants in cooperation with all of the relevant bodies (the Sports Administration and the Sports Betting Board).
Department Directors
Danny Oren – Chairman of the Elite Sports Department
Shay Abrahamy – Executive Director of the Wingate Institute
Gili Lustig – Executive Director of the Olympic Committee
Gili Amir – Representative of the Olympic Committee
Dudu Malka – Representative of the Sports Administration
Anastasia Gloszkow – Representative of the Athletes Committee
Shlomo Savia – Representative of the Sports Administration
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Athena Top Team Program Athena Top Team is an Olympic Committee program – the Elite Sports Department which operates under the Athena National Project – for the advancement of women’s sports in Israel. The goal of this project is clear – to improve our athletic achievements. Vision: Revolutionize women’s sports through elite athletes. The goal of the Athena Top Team program is to help female athletes enter the Olympic ranks and reach the highest levels of international competition. By entering new disciplines in which women compete and due to the fact that in various countries in the world where women’s sport is still developing and the number of female athletes in a certain discipline is smaller than the number of active athletes, they will be able to reach achievements at the international level, compared to men. Within the framework of the program, the Elite Sports Department, as the professional arm of the Olympic Committee and the Sports Administration, works in full cooperation with the relevant associations in selecting the appropriate athletes and in implementing the programs themselves in full coordination with the coaches of the athletes. As a result, achievements of Israeli athletes in the international arena have improved significantly since the beginning of the project. In addition, the Athena Top Team program aims to help the sports associations improve the conditions of young athletes who are members of the Elite Sports Department by assisting in the preparation of professional programs, providing a professional framework to ensure participation in international competitions and training camps with foreign competitors, medical, psychological and nutritional programs, enrich the coaches through workshops and seminars within a specific discipline or multiple disciplines, expand the knowledge base and provide tools to deal with the various requirements. As well, the program assists Olympic athletes with their unique needs that can’t be dealt with in the framework of their association but through the Elite Sports Department which emphasizes the special needs of young athletes. Only the acceptance and understanding that women are different than men, from their physiology and mental state, qualities and motives, results and tools, will help them reach their full potential. “Female athletes are not male athletes, but are women who are engaged in sports” Department of Young Athletes: “Project 2020” The Young Athletes Department as part of the Elite Sports Department is responsible for the professional management of the outstanding young athletes as well as for the professional and organizational management of the Israeli delegations that attend the Youth Olympic Games (YOG – Winter and Summer) and the European Olympic Youth Games (EYOF – Winter and Summer). The Young Athletes Department strives to help the sports associations create a long-term policy to nurture Israel’s next generation of athletes, a policy based on the various platforms and interfaces that the associations currently have with the Elite Sports Department. There is a clearly a desire to significantly increase the project’s resources in order to enable the cultivation of the future generation of athletes. The main objectives of the project are: 1) Assist the sports associations to determine and promote athletes with the greatest potential to reach the highest levels, with the first main objective being the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. 2) Improve Israel’s performance in the international arena among youth and cadets. 3) Consistently increase the number of athletes who will graduate from the project to the adult Elite Sports Department and to the Israeli delegations going to future Olympic Games. Main methods of action: 1) Support for professional programs: The budget for the young athletes project is intended mainly to help improve their professionalism while increasing their international experience. 2) Improve the medical-scientific services for the young athletes through ongoing support of the medical services, performing tests and working with psychologist consultants. 3) Strengthen and improve the professional knowledge of the coaches in all aspects of training youth through both focused and wide-ranging workshops.
Multi-disciplinary
Due to the great importance of the medical aspects in the preparation of an athlete for the Olympic Games, the Elite Sports Department, with the assistance of the Wingate Institute and the Olympic Committee in Israel, operates a unique professional medical system with the best specialists in the field of sports medicine that gives support to Olympic athletes in real time for every issue that may occur.
Prior to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the Olympic Committee joined together with the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and has since been recognized as the Olympic Hospital. Ahead of the 2008 Games in Beijing, the Wingate Institute established the Olympic Clinic headed by Olympic physician, Dr. Luba Galitzkaya. Ever since then, as part of an agreement with the Olympic Committee, the Olympic Clinic serves as the medical center where the athletes are given full medical services. In addition, there is also a cooperation with clinics and medical professionals who provide their services to the athletes outside of the Institute.
Members of the Elite Sports Department allow athletes to enjoy the full range of medical services, in which the athletes undergo periodic tests for monitoring and control, such as orthopedics, ergonometric, echocardiography, routine blood tests, etc. which provide a medical picture that enables the athlete to be treated for future injuries. The entire field of mental support has been upgraded in recent years and athletes today enjoy support and guidance both personally and during training, training camps and competitions both held in Israel and abroad.
In addition, since the cooperation with Meir Hospital began, the athletes receive immediate services such as medical examinations, treatment at a hospital in the event of injury, X-rays, MRI and ultrasound tests, access to specialists, surgery, physiotherapy, massages, nutritional monitoring and more. As well, the medical team that handles athletes during the year accompanies them to competitions and training camps abroad, if necessary.
Coaches training courses
The Elite Sports Department conducts training courses for coaches, professional forums and workshops for selected coaches in the top team sports leagues and in individual sports. Additionally, the Elite Sports Department assists the associations in carrying out training programs per discipline. The aim of the courses and forums is to improve the theoretical knowledge of the coach, to study both technical and tactical aspects and to engage in professional discussions amongst the leading professionals in the various fields. The Elite Sports Department also conducts workshops on the mental aspects of sports for coaches in cooperation with the Top Team project and the Young Athletes Project .
Technological innovation
The Elite Sports Department places emphasis on the use of innovative technological advances in order to improve the performances of Israeli athletes in the international arena. The working assumption of the Elite Sports Department, which is based, among other things, on the findings of Prof. Veerle De Bosscher’s study on sports performances in Israel, is that research and innovation in sports can provide advantages compared to other countries. The State of Israel is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of initiatives and technological innovation in general and in the field of sports in Israel. The goal of the Elite Sports Department is to create Ecosystem among the entrepreneurs, start-ups and companies that are developing innovative products in the field of Performance Enhancement and Sport analytics in the world of sports performances. The Israel Olympic Committee and the Elite Sports Department look to implement various projects that will ensure a win-win situation for both sides. The entrepreneurs/companies will be able to a run a Beta-site in order to test and upgrade their product while the athletes will experience an innovative product that may improve their professional abilities.
Today, the Elite Sports Department has a number of pilot projects with several companies in a number of various sports. As part of this initiative, the Elite Sports Department, assisted by the Department of Medicine and Research at the Wingate Institute, examines a proposed product and how it may help improve the athlete’s performance. Following the inspection, contacts are made to the potential relevant sports and then potentially a pilot is launched under the ongoing supervision of the Elite Sports Department. The Elite Sports Department hopes to expand its collaborations over the upcoming years in order to establish the use of innovative technologies in the training and performance of athletes in Israel.
