Ari Varon, president of the Israel Association of Baseball, believes children currently playing locally will represent Israel at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, as he spearheads an ambitious transformation of the sport from its American immigrant roots into a distinctly Israeli athletic culture.

Varon entered his role with passionate determination to expand the sport’s reach beyond its traditional base among North American immigrants. A Tel Aviv resident, married with three children, he made aliyah from Oregon at age 13 and discovered baseball accidentally at a training session.

“For me, baseball is much more than a game,” Varon said in an interview. “It’s a place where I learned values, gained lifelong friends, and now I want to pass that on to the next generation.”

The baseball fa

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