Then:
Our federation was born in 1989 in a small town of Metulla – the very north of Israel. Its founder,
Mr.Yossi Goldberg, who was the Mayor of Metulla for 20 years, made local and national government agencies believe in the future of ice skating in Israel, and as a result, the Canada Centre, a unique sports and leisure complex with the largest ice rink in Israel, was built. After two years, the Canada Centre became the centre for ice skating, and Yossi was elected President of the Israel Ice Skating Federation. Through his single-minded determination and efforts, Yossi transformed the existing federation from a few locally coached figure skaters into a formally structured and actively functioning organization. The IISF entered international competitions and began to gain the recognition of the
ISU and its member federations.
Now:
During its 17 years of life, our federation has increased the number of world-class competing skaters from one to more than 30 and has established effective training programmes for young skaters. It has organized and held Skate Israel and National Championships. The 2002 ISU World Championships bronze medal of the ice dance pair Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovsky marked the first step of our athletes up to the podium of international ice skating events. The IISF makes every effort to enable "home grown" and repatriating skaters to represent Israel in international competitions, ensuring a dialogue of cultures and sporting traditions. At the latest ISU World Championships in Tokyo the IISF was presented in three disciplines – ice dance, ladies, and men (for more information, please, click here).
ASAP (As Soon As Possible):
The recent years have witnessed a surge in the popularity of ice skating, particularly, in the countries that have not been considered as traditional fans of the sport: China, Malaysia, Korea, and the like. Ice skating has demonstrated that it bridges different climates and cultures because it uniquely combines sport, entertainment and art, which cannot be confined to any particular country. The popularity of ice skating has vaulted in Israel as well. The broadcasts of ice skating events from the XX Winter Olympics in Turin peaked 25% of Israel's Channel 1 ratings - an unprecedented result.
The Metulla ice rink is nestled in a beautiful place of sports and leisure. However, its location makes a nation-wide training of skaters a problematic issue. Ice skating athletes are renowned for their dedication to the sport. But if a talent is spotted in Dimona or Ber Sheba, flying to Metulla or taking a 5-hour drive only in one direction on a daily basis is impossible by any stretch of imagination. Therefore, the IISF sees its mission as expanding the number of ice skating rinks and enabling many more talented children to fulfill their dreams and reinforce the local and international presence of the Israel ice skating team. This vision has been fostered and tirelessly supported by Mr.Boris Chait, the current President of the IISF (since 2002).
