Zoe Bell and Braden Hamelin | Staff Writers
Given recent events, representing Israel is a desire for many American Jews, and four local girls got the chance to do so this July as some became Israeli citizens and they all competed for Team Israel in softball tournaments around the world.
Mia Forseter, Hannah Wiseman, Noa Kammerman and Taylor Williams participated in an international competition for Team Israel in 15-19U brackets in Prague, Denver and Canada, gaining memorable competitive and Jewish experiences.
Six years ago, Team Israel began building a softball program with young women in age brackets of 14, 16, 18, 19 and the Olympics team. The program is Team Israel’s pool of players who are training to be Olympians, according to the Jewish National Fund website.
“A lot of this is based out of California, so most of the girls come from the West Coast,” said Eric Forseter, Mia Forseter’s dad. “They play 350 days a year out there, but they’re trying to recruit all over the country and find Jewish kids who can play in the North American games, like the Triple Crown International Challenge in Denver or in the Canada Cup. You don’t have to be an Israeli citizen; you just have to have Jewish heritage [or faith].”
Teams at the Denver event hailed from 21 countries, with each consisting of players with heritage to their country. Anyone with Jewish faith can play for Israel in the TCIC, although some tournaments require players to have an Israeli passport.
“[My family and I] decided this is a very important opportunity to connect two very important things in my life together and become a citizen during this very hard time for Israel and play softball for this incredible tournament,” Kammerman said.
Prague
Kammerman, 15, a rising sophomore at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, played for Israel in the 15U World Softball Championship in Prague. She became an Israeli citizen just before the tournament after a 10-day process completed on June 28 in Israel with her mother.
Kammerman, who has played softball since she was 6, said the experience was unique because she spent time with a team fully composed of Jewish girls her age, something she’s never experienced before.
“There’s not a Jewish person on my softball team now — and there hasn’t been for a while — so playing with all Jews and doing Shabbat at the hotel with the team was an incredible experience,” Kammerman said.
Kammerman said on a Friday night after the tournament in Prague, the players went to get challah and candles to create a team-only Shabbat dinner, which became a special moment.
“Those girls are really good friends now, and I’m hoping to stay in touch with them forever and visit them next time in Israel,” Kammerman said.
She said the camaraderie calmed any nerves she had around publicly representing Israel in Prague.
“It was great to be around other Jewish people,” Kammerman said. “I was nervous to go play in Europe because it has been very antisemitic since Oct. 7, but being around a bunch of Jews was very comforting, and I’ve never felt more safe.”
Kammerman’s dad, Joe Kammerman, spoke to how meaningful it was to have an all-Jewish team.
“Playing elite softball in this region, there aren’t a lot of Jewish kids that are playing,” he said. “This opportunity to play with a lot of other Jewish kids opened up the opportunity for Noa to meet other Jewish kids who are playing at an elite level and to play on a team, that’s just Jewish kids; it’s just so unique.”
Kammerman met Forseter while the pair attended a tryout for Team Israel in California earlier in the year. The two have connected and played some softball together, though Forseter played in Denver and Canada.
Denver and Canada
Forseter, 16, who attends Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, played for the 16U team in Denver, where Team Israel finished second in pool play and lost in the quarterfinals, finishing fifth overall. In a game versus Polynesia, she pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
Forseter came into the game with no out and two on and shut down the opposition.
Eric Forseter said Wiseman, 16, had some “key pitching moments” for the 18U team, but the team lost in the playoffs to Japan, which won bronze.
During the Canada Cup in Vancouver, Wiseman earned a starting position after the second game, playing first and third base. At the last minute, Forseter and Wiseman were asked to represent Team Israel on its 19U team, which only had 11 players — two got hurt during the fourth game.
Forseter was put onto first base duty after the third basewoman, a player from Dartmouth College, was injured. Forseter made a play on a line drive that otherwise would have been a double.
“It’s probably the highest level of competition I’ve ever played at. It’s also probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done because everybody just had such national pride, not just for Israel,” Forseter said.
Wiseman shifted from first base to third base and made several key plays. Both Forseter and Wiseman pitched in the tournament, something that Forseter started in 2024. Williams, 19, from Lorton, Virginia, was second on the 19U team in hitting.
“The team did OK in pool play but ended up in the Silver Bracket,” Eric Forseter said.
Team Israel won the Silver Bracket Championship after beating Ukraine 7-6.
Though the experience was positive for the teens, there were concerns over the perception of people seeing them wearing Israeli jerseys and representing the country during a time of extreme controversy.
“In Canada, they had us wear a jacket every time we left the hotel, just to make sure that people didn’t see the Israel flag on our jerseys,” Forseter said.
There was a pro-Palestinian protest at the national game between Team Israel and Canada that the 19U team and their parents attended, Forseter said. The team had to leave with an escort.
Overall, the girls said there was never a time they felt in danger and that they had a positive softball-centered experience.
Forseter gave advice tor Jewish teens interested in competing in similar events.
“They should absolutely do it,” Forseter said. “It’s one of the best opportunities you can have in softball; it was so much fun. It’s crazy to think that I even did it, but it’s such an amazing and incredible opportunity and such a great way to support Israel.”
