Fighting For Change

Oshrat Eni, Israel

My name is Oshrat Eni, an Israeli football player and commentator with the national TV channels KAN 11 (for Men’s and Women’s World Cup matches and the men’s Israeli national team) and SPORT 1 (where I commentate on the European, Chinese and American leagues). I am the former women’s national team captain (youth and senior), with 22 years of football experience. I live for football and love every aspect of it - the game, playing, watching, commentating, coaching and managing.

What has been your football journey up until now? 

I grew up in Herzeliya. I always played football in my neighbourhood yard, but we didn't have a girls’ team so when I was about 9 years old, I played with young boys. In order to prevent harassment, they would call me Osher (a boy's name) in front of other teams. I played with them for a year or so, until everyone could tell that I was not a boy! 😜

After that I played handball but my dream all the time was to play football. When I turned 15, I heard about some football afterschool activities for girls in a nearby city, so I went there. Three weeks later I got a call for the U19 national team, and from there I got a call for my first league team, Hapoel Tel Aviv (my favourite team). And when I turned 18, I got THE call for the national team.

I have won 9 championship titles and 10 domestic cups, and I have 30 appearances in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (or UEFA Women's Cup as it was once called), so I had a lot of exciting moments and achievements. It's really hard to choose, but the most special one for me was my first appearance with Hapoel Tel Aviv in a match before the Men’s team (as you already know by now, my favourite team) played in the big stadium in front of 8,000 people. I think the hard moments are the injuries (I am currently out for 10 months due to injury) but it's all part of the game - you can't have the good without the bad...

What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning with the photos?

You can see the senior and junior teams of my current club, ASA Tel Aviv. They were taken at our training ground. I tried to show the team spirit - fun, smiles, togetherness, the next generation.

Meital Sharaby is a 19-year-old left back at ASA Tel Aviv. It was after the last practice before the championship match. It represents the atmosphere around our team and the passion we have for women’s football. The practice was done but we still love fooling around with ball.

What are the opportunities for female footballers in Israel?

There are not a lot of opportunities unfortunately. It was getting better but in the past year we have been fighting for the fundamental elements in the Supreme Court - equal state funding of male and female sports teams in Israel.

I believe that things will get better in the next few years (after we overcome the coronavirus crisis) and we will get a 100% professional league. 

What are the biggest changes happening at the moment in women's football?

We have established the "Women Footballers Making a Change" movement in order to demand change for the way women’s football looks and footballers have been treated so far. I recently started a new project – “Writing the History”: Wikipedia pages for Israeli women footballers. Documentation is the first step towards recognition and visibility. It is going great so far.

What does football mean to you? Do you have a message for the next generation of young female footballers?

Football is everything. As simple as that. 

I don't let the situation define who I am. When you're strong enough, you don't need other people to define who you are. I define who I am, what I want to be and where I go. Believe in yourself and in your dream. 

I dreamed to be a national team player when that was not even a thing in Israel. People told me to change my dream because there was no such a thing as a women’s national football team. But I didn't give up for a second.

What is the future for Israeli women's football?

We have had a major setback due to administrative problems at the FA and we have not had a proper sport minister since we had three national elections in ONE year. But the goal is to meet with all the stakeholders and rebuild the right atmosphere and conditions in order to make Israeli women’s football professional, with the support of our male colleagues.

I hope that the future for Israeli women’s football is bright and shiny :) a lot of young girls started playing in the last years, I hope they will get enough resources, visibility and financial support to fulfil their potential.  

What do you expect to change after the 2019 WWC?

I believe that we saw the beginning of that change - more sponsors, more broadcasting, more fans. We are the must popular and growing game in the world!