Ophir Katz took on the role of Head National Team Coach at the start of the baseball year. A few facts about Ophir...

Age: 32

Home town: Tel Aviv

Position: Catcher

What is your baseball history?
I started playing at the age of 10 in Tel Aviv. At 12, I was selected for the U12 national team. When I was in the army I was a Sportsman (Sportai) and when I was released from the army I traveled to California to study and play for Cyprus Community College. In 2006, I joined the Senior National Team for the first time, and I played on that team until 2019. Over the years I have coached various teams in various countries.

What have been your baseball highlights?
Almost every summer, to travel to some hole in the wall town in Europe (because for some reason European baseball fields don’t seem to be located in large cities), and to spend a week there as if nothing else exists in the world besides the next game and the people around me.

What are the main challenges facing baseball in Israel?
I think that the biggest difficulty we have is to make baseball accessible to the local population, in order to grow significantly. In order to achieve this, we have to adapt the game to the environment of soccer fields and basketball courts.

What is your vision for Israel baseball?
I would like to see major growth among the 6-10 age group and have them play8ing on a weekly basis throughout Israel. We would like to have local leagues in every town and regional leagues on a higher level. The growth of younger players will lead to the creation of a higher quality program for the older players. And I believe that our national teams will be able to place in the middle of the European rankings.

Your favorite MLB team?
The Pittsburgh Pirates