A new year is underway at Lev Aharon, and football is right around the corner. With none of last year’s squad returning to Israel, the Darts are starting fresh with a new rookie class. We’ll miss last year’s boys, and the opening tryouts have already given us plenty to look forward to with this new group.

We started with 1v1s before moving into scrimmage, with three teams of four. Each group got its turn on offense and defense, with the leading team staying on to face the next group. David Hamra and Kenny Gelber handled offensive and defensive line duties for each team, while coach chooch rotated into whichever position was needed.

Jacob Chami was an early standout at quarterback. Playing QB for every group, Chami led the offense to scores on all but two of the roughly 10–12 drives we played. He found success through deep passes, runs and long, methodical drives, showing creativity and spreading the ball around. It was an impressive first look at what he can bring to this year’s offense.

Toby Levy stood out at wide receiver and cornerback, bringing height and strength to both positions. Bobby Salem, Ed Dweck and Raz Sher also impressed at receiver and cornerback, showing quickness, shifty movement and good overall play. Jacob Cohen put together a good showing at receiver as well, adding another name to the early standouts.

Another tryout is coming up as we finish rounding out the roster. There’s still plenty of work ahead, and this first session gave us an encouraging starting point. For everyone following the Darts, players, families, friends and last year’s boys, there’s a new class getting ready to represent Lev Aharon.

Football is almost back.