In a year when children across Israel continued to face uncertainty and disruption, The Equalizer used sport as a tool to relieve the distress experienced by children affected by conflict, to promote their physical and mental health, and to advance their education, while giving them a safe, structured place to connect and belong.
A program of Jewish Federations of Canada-United Israel Appeal, and funded by UJA, The Equalizer delivers structured soccer and basketball programs combined with educational curricula designed to advance the education, health and well-being of children and youth. Over the past year, the programs reached 12,000 children and teens across 146 municipalities in Israel. With 641 teams, 800 trained coaches and mentors, and more than 95,000 hours of supervised activity, the organization is delivering these benefits to young people from diverse and underserved backgrounds across Israeli society.
Behind the numbers are young people building confidence, psychological resilience and friendships.
This year, more than 2,000 children in Israeli peripheral communities participated in programming. Educational staff reported that 89% saw a significant improvement in participants’ self-confidence.
Across The Equalizer’s programs, the impact was equally meaningful. Sha’ar Shivion used soccer as a platform for educational and mentorship programming for 7,170 young people; Bo’atot gave 2,771 girls structured opportunities to promote their physical health, self-confidence and leadership skills; Special Goals provided therapeutic and inclusive sports programming to 599 participants on the autism spectrum; and The 48ers combined basketball with leadership training, education and exposure to technology.
The Equalizer added 139 new teams this year, approximately 28% growth in activity, and expanded its programming to underserved communities in the periphery. Even when conflict interrupted in-person programming, staff quickly moved educational and wellness activities online so participants could continue to receive support from their coaches and mentors during a period of significant distress.
The impact can also be seen through the journeys of individual participants. Former Sha’ar Shivion participants are now returning as trained coaches and mentors. As part of an educational and leadership exchange, a group of 10 participants from Be’er Sheva travelled to Canada, connecting with peers in Montreal and participating in the JCC Maccabi Games in Toronto.
The Equalizer is looking ahead to more teams, stronger programming and more opportunities to bring young people from different backgrounds together.
Donor support helps make that possible. It helps provide trained coaches and mentors, create safe and welcoming spaces for children, expand educational and wellness programming into underserved communities, and helps Israeli children affected by conflict build confidence, emotional resilience and hope for the future.
At its core, this work isn’t about scoring goals or winning games.
It’s about giving young people a place to belong, helping them discover what they’re capable of, and creating opportunities for them to grow into confident young adults—and ideally, come back and lead the next generation.
The impact created by The Equalizer programs goes far beyond the field.