FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sarit Schonbrun
JNF Communications Manager
212-879-9305 ext. 222
sschonbrun@jnf.org
Israel Fantasy Baseball Tour Kicks Off July 2, 2006
May 3, 2006—New York, NY— It’s a scene as American as the game of baseball itself: a Fourth of July celebration complete with a barbecue, fireworks, and some friendly competition on the baseball diamond.
For a group of American baseball fans however, these festivities will not be taking place in their neighbor’s backyard but in Tel Aviv, Israel, as part of this summer's barnstorming Israel Fantasy Baseball Tour organized by Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Israel Baseball League (IBL).
On July 2, 2006, the group will depart for a week-long tour of Israel with a special baseball flair, getting the chance to play against the Israeli National Baseball Team and hobnob with former Major League Baseball players. They will also visit Kibbutz Gezer, home of Israel’s first baseball field built in 1979, for a baseball clinic with the local children.
The tour will include stops at Israel’s historic and cultural sites with an experienced guide and stays at three- and four-star hotels. Participants will tour an army base in the Golan, have lunch with IDF soldiers, and join the archaeological excavations at the Bar Kochva ruins.
The Israel Fantasy Baseball Tour is part of a baseball festival in Israel during the first half of July that also includes a two-week baseball clinic for kids age 8-14 and the first annual Israel Baseball Expo in Jerusalem.
JNF and the IBL first partnered earlier this year for Project: Baseball, the campaign to build community baseball fields throughout Israel. The two organizations hope to increase baseball’s growing popularity in Israel and provide a place for every Israeli— secular Jews, Orthodox Jews, Arabs, Bedouins— to enjoy the sport that IBL founder Larry Baras calls "the greatest game on earth."
The “land only” package includes accommodations for seven nights, meals, touring activities, baseball games, tour guide, in-country travel, and tips for $1,875 per person based on double occupancy. For more information contact Shirley Shchory, JNF Missions, at 877-JNF-TOUR ext. 366 or shirley@giltravel.com or visit www.jnf.org/baseball_mission. To learn more about Project: Baseball, go to www.jnf.org/baseball.
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Jewish National Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1901 to serve as caretaker of the land of Israel, on behalf of its owners—Jewish people everywhere. Over the past century, JNF has planted over 240 million trees, built over 180 reservoirs and dams, developed over 250,000 acres of land, created more than 1,000 parks, provided the infrastructure for 1,000 communities and educated students around the world about Israel and the environment. Today, JNF is putting its century of experience to work with the Blueprint Negev initiative, supporting Israel’s newest generation of pioneers in developing the Negev Desert, Israel’s last frontier. For more information on JNF or to plant trees in Israel, call 1-800-542-TREE (8733) or visit http://www.jnf.org/. To contact your local office, please call 888-JNF-0099 or visit http://www.jnf.org/.
The Israel Baseball League is dedicated to bringing the joys of baseball to the land of Israel. The League’s mission is to provide Israeli communities the opportunity to experience the wonder and excitement of the world’s greatest game. The IBL hopes that the baseball field will serve as a meeting place for children of all ages and races and denominations to interact with one another in a wholesome, healthful, sportsmanlike and, most of all, fun manner.
