Haifa Underdogs

The Haifa Underdogs represented Haifa in the early development of organized tackle football in Israel. They were among four teams in the IFL’s first season, alongside Jerusalem’s Lions, Tel Aviv’s Sabres, and the Sharon Pioneers. Jerusalem won the championship, and Kaminsky later recalled that Haifa lost the season’s title game to the Lions.[1] Coverage from 2022 still identified Mica Allon as having joined the Underdogs and Jay Hoffman as coach of the Haifa team.[2]

American football in Israel developed through informal tackle games before a formal, fully equipped league structure took shape. Players in Haifa and Tel Aviv played tackle football without safety equipment before organizing the Israel Football League; the governing body American Football Israel later agreed to organize and subsidize the league on the condition that players use helmets and pads.[3]

A 2007 report described an existing informal league of three teams and announced that American Football in Israel would establish a new, fully equipped tackle league beginning in the fall, with teams planned for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Kfar Saba.[4] In the IFL’s first season, the Haifa Underdogs were one of four teams alongside the Jerusalem Lions, the Tel Aviv Sabres, and the Sharon Pioneers.[1] Jerusalem won the inaugural championship by defeating the Underdogs in the title game, a loss experienced firsthand by Haifa player Erez “Shrek” Kaminsky during his first season with the team.[1]

Early player Ben Friedman recalled the pickup-game moment that drew him into the sport: “When I scored a touchdown while carrying three guys on my back, I said to myself, ‘Now, this is something I could really enjoy!’”[3] That enthusiasm reflected the league’s grassroots culture before the arrival of standardized equipment and formal organization.

The Underdogs carried a strong defensive identity into the 2008/09 season opener, which they won 24–14 over the Dancing Camel Modi’in Pioneers.[5] Halfback Lior Subotnik scored twice on two-yard runs, and the Haifa ground game gained more than 100 yards.[5] The defense forced and recovered four fumbles, extending a run of consistency that had made Haifa the IFL’s top-ranked defense the prior season.[5]

Not every campaign unfolded so favorably. In November 2010, the Gush Texas Judean Rebels routed the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs 78–32, with the Rebels’ 78-point total setting an IFL single-team scoring record.[6]

A January 2013 game against the Clal Tel Aviv Pioneers in Kiryat Yam featured a determined Haifa comeback attempt. The Underdogs trailed 22–6 at halftime, but Tim Kelly carried 25 times for 138 yards and scored two touchdowns.[7] The Jerusalem Post characterized a disputed goal-line fumble recovery credited to Tel Aviv’s Sagan Zavelo as a play that likely ended Haifa’s chance to complete the rally. The Underdogs lost 28–18, dropping their record to 4–4.[7]

In a 2017 contest in Petah Tikva against the Troopers, Haifa again struggled to convert its advantages into a win. The Underdogs dominated much of the game but were undermined by missed opportunities and interceptions, contributing to a 6–2 halftime deficit.[8] A third-quarter touchdown pass from Ron Dafni to Matan Fourier briefly gave Haifa a 9–6 lead, but the Troopers responded with the game-winning score for a final of 12–9.[8] Later that December, the Jerusalem Lions shut out the Underdogs 37–0 at the Kraft Family Sports Campus, with Haifa held to negative total yardage.[9] The report said Haifa’s next game, against Mazkeret Batya, would be its first home game of the season and would be played at a new home field at Kibbutz HaHotrim.[9]

Haifa players have reached the sport through informal local encounters. Mica Allon, for example, joined the team after encountering people throwing a football at the Technion when he was 18.[2] Shachar Adi served as a Haifa and Israeli national-team co-captain, showing that Haifa players also reached leadership roles at the national level.[2] Jay Hoffman served as coach of the Haifa team as well as the national team.[2]

By 2022, the team—also called the “Haifa Dogs” in a Jerusalem Post photo caption—generally began preparing for the season in November and practiced twice weekly at a boarding school in Zichron Ya’acov.[2] Erez “Shrek” Kaminsky, a prominent Israeli player to emerge from the league, played for the Underdogs for five seasons, from 12th grade through the end of his military service.[1]

Allon emphasized the sport’s intensity and interdependence, explaining that every player had to give full effort on each play and that football involved a degree of teamwork he did not find in most other sports. Hoffman similarly described football as a team sport in which even an exceptional quarterback depends on blockers and other teammates performing their assignments.[2]

Player movement within the IFL was rare and handled cautiously. Before the league’s third season, quarterback Itay Ashkenazi transferred from the Haifa Underdogs to the Jerusalem Lions, drawing media attention.[10] The move was considered in light of its possible effect on competitive balance and team morale; the league’s stated approach emphasized strengthening the overall competition rather than advancing one franchise at the expense of others.[10] Ashkenazi, described as capable of accurate throws of 25–30 yards and as a quick runner, became the Lions’ quarterback.[10]