A Hero's Journey: Heri M

This picture represents my proudest and most special moments as an IDF player/member. It was taken back in 2017 after we won Regionals.

It is very special because of the way we won it. It brought so many mixed emotions, it taught all of us a life lesson to never stop believing, never give up, I remember being on the pitch and losing 4-1 someone asked the referee how long was left to play and I heard the referee say “3 and some added time” I put my head down and said to myself “no way this is happening we’ve done so much just to get this much from the tournament”.

I had totally given up but I looked at the bench and saw coach calling “Heri get back, get in position”, and I said to myself “What?” he still thinks otherwise, he still believes we can score 3 goals with this much time left? At that moment I said “whatever happens here today I have to leave this pitch knowing there is nothing else I could have done” and just like miracles, the game changed very quickly, we knew we needed one point to win regionals and qualify for nationals with the 3 minute and whatever added time we had we managed to score 3 goals to make it 4-4. I could not believe what had just happened.

I remember my teammate asking me how I feel and I said I don’t know because I could not describe the feeling I had. It is something I have never felt before and that’s why it is so special because there is nothing I have done or seen that made me feel like I did. Winning regionals is something I will remember forever and ever because it gave me a special joy like never before, and it taught me to always believe. 

- HERI M, IDF PLAYER SINCE 2017