Elitzur Ramla will go up to the floor tonight (Thursday, 20:00) at the Ralph Klein Municipal Hall in Yavne, for the State Cup final game against Maccabi Ramat Gan in an attempt to achieve its second title after winning the Winner’s Cup tournament. In recent years, Ramla has gone through a difficult period, the team disbanded, re-emerged from the second division and rebuilt itself from the ruins until it is again a senior team in the Premier League. To make the leap, in the league, cup and Europe, this year Shira was signed to the top (when she was in her seventh month of pregnancy and after a year sitting at home and developing a personal training business for male and female basketball players) at the club with the goals set before her signing, trophy and championship no less.
“Ramla, regardless of anything, is always aimed at all the degrees.” opening The top And she continued: ‘There are other good teams. How many times have there been teams with a big budget and not taken a degree? It happens a lot in sports. Money is not necessarily the measure of success. It certainly helps and gives you tools but once we have built the team and put an emphasis on the interpersonal level combined with basketball it is something I really liked. My and management’s standards were similar. We are measured in the result test, and we come to bring the trophy to Ramla.
What’s the excitement, yet you’re returning to one of the main stages of women’s basketball?
“After we played against Ashdod in the league and lost by 2 overtimes, we did a home test of what we should do. We made our adjustments and gave an impressive defensive display in the semi-finals and played against a very strong team (Ashdod) we take our opponent in the final very seriously. Anyone who understands sports knows that in the Cup there is no favorite and no underdog. We made good preparation, both mentally and professionally. We played against Ramat Gan in the Winner’s Cup final and we won and in the league and it was not easy for us. This is a good rival with excellent players, this is no longer a game for me, I coached for 5 years at this club. ”
You talked about that loss against Ashdod in the league, there are a lot of coaches who believe in creating a crisis in a certain part of the season in order to reach the peak of the season in the peak, do you agree with that?
“Unequivocally, I’m not happy we lost but I’m very connected to the fact that a team can not be at the peak of an entire season, and can not win all season, a team also has to deal with losses and moments of crisis, good teams that want to get to the end That we knew how to do it. And the credit to the girls. ‘
You seem to be very connected to this place called Ramla.
“I know very well that this game is important to me for the city of Ramla and the fans and the management and the actresses. I am surrounded by people who are supportive, attentive and work in sync, there are people I really like and it is important for me to win and bring them a degree. ”
After 14 years on the lines, you have managed in recent years, to brand yourself as a leading basketball coach and on the way to having two children, how do you explain this leap?
‘I am very total in what I do and combine it with passion, it is important for me to learn, develop and advance, I criticize myself and that is how I improve and I am attentive to my environment, the actresses, and the people around me. I know what I know but I will always be interested in discovering more things. I surround myself with quality people who help me. ‘
If you were a man, would you be a senior coach in the men’s Premier League?
“Unequivocally yes, but Shira Upper wants to be a woman and train men which is more challenging because no one has broken that glass ceiling. Today to get into the pool of coaches should come from within, the fact that I was a player for so many years in the Premier League and knew the souls opened the door for me. So if I was a player, it would be easier for me to get into men’s basketball. ”
Do you see yourself as an assistant coach in the Premier League or a coach in the Second League to enter the Men’s Premier League?
I have other ambitions before men’s basketball, I really want to succeed with Ramla, if I find a home that is home for many years as it was in the past (5 years at Hapoel Rishon LeZion and a similar period at Maccabi Ramat Gan), it is a club I wish every coach to coach. I would not lie if I said I did not want to coach the team someday. One day it’s a role I aspire to and aim for. In addition, I would like to train overseas, women. ‘
As one who has been through a lot in women’s basketball, how do you bring the league back to its good old days?
“I do not like what is happening in women’s basketball. Politics is too much in control of my actions, I am optimistic that Hila Knister Bar David is a character I really appreciate, she came into the picture and I want to give her the credit that she will know how to return the crown to its former glory. I do think that some organizational and structural changes need to be made, the league should encourage teams to play in Europe and change the law of 3 foreigners to Russian law, with 2 foreigners and 2 Bosnians, that’s how players grew up in the big years, because they played with Europeans, it’s something that will help Also for the Israeli team. The teams here will become more professional, not every team needs to think only about its interests. Today when we play in Europe I have to build 2 different teams “.
What are the ambitions in Europe?
Ramla plays in the league, with a different team from Europe, we have foreigners who can not play in Europe. Bonner does not continue with us and it is quite obscure because she was significant, and she signed elsewhere. We signed a player to Europe, we brought Daniel Diamant to training and a half before a game, again because we had no other option. “We went up a stage, we made progress, last year we did not make it through the first stage, we lived up to expectations and right now every victory is beyond.”
