Jewish Students Find Community Through Football Tournament
This past weekend, 220 Jewish students from more than 20 colleges and universities in the Midwest and Northeast gathered at the University of Michigan for the third annual Michigan Yavneh Football Tournament (MYFT), supported by Hillel International, to play flag football and celebrate Shabbat together.
For these students, who attend schools including the University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Washington University in St. Louis, and Ohio State University, flag football is more than a game. It’s a chance to share their love of sports, enjoy some friendly competition, and experience Jewish community beyond their own campuses, with Shabbat at the center.
“Sports give Jewish students an easy, fun way to connect with people they might not otherwise meet,” said Rachel Snow, a MYFT participant and third-year student at the University of Maryland. “What starts as a shared love of the game can turn into meaningful friendships and a stronger connection to the Jewish community.”
Twenty-four teams competed across the men’s and women’s divisions all weekend, with Fairleigh Dickinson University claiming the men’s championship and Michigan taking the women’s title on their home field. The tournament also honored players whose impact went beyond the scoreboard, with awards for MVP, sportsmanship, and heart.
While there was plenty of action on the field, some of the most meaningful moments happened on the sidelines, around the Shabbat dinner table, at barbecues and bonfires, and amid conversations with peers. Students made new friends and caught up with old ones from Jewish summer camp and high school.
Experiencing moments like these with people who share your passions is what makes MYFT special, said tournament co-founder Lila Ellman, a fourth-year student at the University of Michigan. “Being able to connect my Judaism to sports was just the coolest thing, and really brought out so much Jewish joy. This weekend was a pure moment of Jewish joy,” Ellman said. “We got to bring students together.”
The idea for MYFT came after Michigan’s football team won the national championship in 2023. With excitement sweeping campus, then first-year student and current co-chair Josh Katz saw an opportunity to bring that same level of energy to Jewish community building through sports, and came to Ellman to help him build his idea into reality. MYFT began with 100 students from eight universities and this year, it hosted its largest ever group of players and fans.
In addition to friendly competition, Shabbat was built into the heart of the weekend, with programming designed to include Jewish students of all observance levels. Players came from a wide range of Jewish backgrounds, bringing different experiences into the same space while celebrating their shared values at a powerful oneg Shabbat filled with uplifting songs, Shabbat services, during meals, and at Havdalah.
“As somebody who observes Shabbat, being able to connect with people tech-free is an incredible moment and experience,” Ellman said. “People were very cognizant of that while at the events, so we got to have a much deeper level of connection with the Shabbat component.”
MYFT co-chair and Michigan student Fisher Angrist said a highlight of the weekend came when players walked into Kabbalat Shabbat, the opening prayers for Shabbat, right after the games. “It was a surreal feeling to see everyone transition into this setting as a Jewish community and not only members of their respective teams,” Angrist said.
Another meaningful aspect of MYFT is that students themselves lead the experience. From coordinating participation across campuses to planning social gatherings, Shabbat programming, and games, student organizers take ownership of a tournament that reflects their interests and the Jewish communities they want to build. Their leadership also shows students from a variety of universities how to create connections that reach beyond their local communities.
Miles Grauberd, a third-year student at Yeshiva University (YU), said the weekend demonstrated how powerful a single idea can be. “All of this started from nothing just a few years ago, and it shows how an idea can make such a big impact on hundreds of people,” Grauberd said. “MYFT inspires me to create an environment of togetherness back at YU.”
For Ava Katz, a first-year student at Binghamton University, MYFT illustrated that leadership can take many forms. “I think anyone who came this weekend was a leader in some way, whether they were loud or they led behind the scenes,” Katz said. “I realized everyone can have a role in leadership in the Jewish community.”
After the final whistle blew and students arrived back on their own campuses, they returned with new friendships, stronger connections to Jewish life, and a reminder that community extends far beyond their campus Hillel. And maybe the next time these students from across the country gather around a Shabbat table, they’ll recognize a familiar face from the football field.