For the next few years, Steve Leibowitz is laser-focused on one goal: to get his Israeli flag football team, AFI American Football in Israel, into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Leibowitz, a former journalist with ILTV in Israel who is originally from the states, founded AFI 20 years ago. There are teams for men and women, and both have gone to play in world championships; currently, the men’s team ranks eighth in the world and third in Europe, and the women’s team is eighteenth in the world.
Now, the founder is embarking on a tour of the U.S. with Jonathan Curran, one of the players, and talking about his hopes for getting AFI into the upcoming Olympics.
“I’m ready, willing and hoping to meet anyone who can help us in our Olympics quest,” Leibowitz said. “I want to get us there.”
“I’m ready, willing and hoping to meet anyone who can help us in our Olympics quest.” – Steve Leibowitz
Leibowitz and Curran are visiting LA on June 8 and speaking about their team, which hosted the world championships in 2021, at Sinai Temple. They will also be going to Chicago, Minneapolis and Dallas.
“This trip will allow us to touch base with our local supporters,” Leibowitz said. “A year from now, my goal is to bring the men’s team to the U.S. and play them against some of the best teams, since the best flag football players in the world are there.”
To get into the Olympics, Leibowitz believes that there will be a qualifying tournament in 2027. Israeli teams are rarely in the Olympics, and Israeli flag football has never competed.
“The timing wasn’t great for us, as the official announcement that the Olympics would be in LA came a week after the war started in Israel,” he said. “Despite all the problems, we are trying to keep our minds and eyes on the goal, which is to be among the top teams in our sport.”
AFI has big supporters, including President and Co-owner of the Minnesota Vikings Mark Wilf and Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, who has been sponsoring the team since it started. The football fields in Israel are named after the Kraft family.
“Robert and I have promised each other we’ll get an Israeli into the NFL one day,” Leibowitz said. “As he said, he wants to change the reality how when a Jewish boy reaches bar mitzvah age, he has more of a chance of owning an NFL team than being on one.”
For the last six months, AFI has been on hold, since many of the players are currently fighting in the IDF. Curran has been serving almost non-stop since Oct. 7, and the government budget for the team has been severely impacted by the war. Along with touring the U.S. to build support for the Olympics, Leibowitz and Curran are also fundraising for the teams. The money would go towards the costs of operating the team as well as travel to world championships, like the upcoming one in Helsinki in August.
When going around the world, typically AFI doesn’t have any problems. However, seven years ago, at their first big football game in Spain, there were pro-Palestine protestors banging on drums and painting the Palestinian flag on the field.
“We went out and kicked their butts in the game,” Leibowitz said. “It was a big upset when we won.”
In Turkey, he said there were, “probably more armed guards than fans. It was a very hostile environment, to put it mildly. Again, we kicked their butts.”
Most of the time, the team is welcomed with open arms, and everyone is professional and exhibits sportsmanship.
“Israel has a well-respected place in the flag football world,” Leibowitz said.
During Leibowitz’s tour, and beyond, he is going to keep on working to get his team into the Olympics – which would do wonders for flag football in Israel and for his country.
“A medal would be a tremendous boost for our sport,” he said. “It’s important for us to go to the Olympics, where we could raise the flag for Israel.”
Find out more about AFI and donate on their website, iflfriends.com/donation.
