Sports

Israeli-American baseball player Zev Moore signed a professional contract this week with the Trenton Thunder of Major League Baseball’s Draft League. According to Moore’s publicist, he became the second Orthodox Jew to play professional baseball, while also becoming the second player raised in Israel to sign a contract allowing him to compete at that level.

Argentine soccer icon Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, has built one of soccer’s most decorated careers. Throughout his illustrious career, Messi has cultivated a measured public image, rarely commenting on politics or becoming involved in major public controversies.

By Kenny Griffel, International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame World Cup In celebration of the 2026 World Cup, here are Jewish sportspeople involved in this year’s tournament. In the history of World Cup tournaments, there have not been many Jewish...

For some Jewish fans of the New York Knicks, the most salient number related to the team’s NBA championship win on Saturday was not 94 — the team’s final point tally — or 53 — the number of years since the last title. It was 613 — the date of the victory (6/13) and the number of commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah.

Harrison Hochberg is still processing what it means to be a national champion. The University of Michigan junior, who grew up a devoted fan of the school’s basketball program, was part of the team that captured this year’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball title. As one of a small number of Jewish men’s basketball players in the Big Ten Conference, Hochberg has stepped into a rare spotlight, embracing his role as a visible Jewish athlete at the highest level of college basketball. Hochberg reflected on the championship run, celebrating Passover during the Final Four, confronting anti-Semitism.

For the 11th time, the DU Pioneers have secured a national championship in men’s hockey. The team faced Wisconsin on April 11 for the “Frozen Four” title, winning 2-1. A local celebration was scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, at Magness Arena on the DU campus.

The Barclays Center had the energy of a Bar Mitzvah party on March 16 as kippah-clad basketball fans and kids waving posters with Hebrew words of encouragement came to cheer on an NBA first: a game featuring three Jewish players — all Israeli citizens.

Sheina Vaspi, a world-class one-legged skier from Israel, says she was not born to hit the slopes. In fact, she did not take up skiing till she was 16. Vaspi, now 24, was Israel’s first representative four years ago in the Paralympic Games. Four years later, she is again the only Israeli at the Paralympics, which end March 15.

Three words you thought you would never hear: Israel’s bobsled team. Israel — not known for snow — had one in the Olympics this year. For the first time. It made headlines away from the track — for a robbery. For boos. For a bad error on the last day. And for a welcome by fans and fellow athletes throughout.

Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils scored the game-winning overtime goal, Sunday, Feb. 22 to clinch the gold medal for the US over Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina — the first time Team USA has won gold since the “miracle on ice” in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.