Matt Flapan - Team Israel

After Matthew Flapan finished high school on Long Island in 2008, he thought he graduated from lacrosse, too. Injuries hampered the goalie’s junior and senior seasons, and college lacrosse wasn’t in his mind.

Almost a decade later, he’s competing internationally for a different country in a different position.

Flapan came to Israel in the summer of 2009 to volunteer in Ramla, doing everything from spending time with underprivileged kids after school to aiding the community’s elderly. It didn’t take long for him to find a home halfway around the world and in May 2010, he willingly signed up for the Israeli army. Two years later, he made Aliyah and made Israel his permanent home.

“After I got my first taste of Israel, I saw myself being in the country for the next couple of years,” Flapan said. “Serving in the army is a right of passage among Israelis. It fast tracked me to learn Hebrew, be able to navigate the country and get a better understanding of who Israelis are: what they’re about, their mentality. I got an inside look at the society.”

His journey back into lacrosse, though, came a year earlier in 2011 when a fellow lone soldier told him a national lacrosse program was starting. Flapan was surprised the sport he grew up with was in his new country, and the prospect excited him. He learned there would be a game at Kraft Stadium in Jerusalem, the first ever official lacrosse game in Israel and Flapan’s first game back after a three-year hiatus.

“I was like, ‘Wow, man, this is great,’” Flapan said. “I’m living in Israel, they have lacrosse now, something I played my whole life growing up. I fell into it through luck and kept a strong connection ever since. Now here we are.”

Flapan’s position was switched from goalie to midfield for the game, a change that’s held since. Although he’s now 28, he is still constantly learning new aspects of the field position.

Now, Flapan helps Israel lacrosse off the field, too. He helps with the program’s day-to-day operations and logistics, including housing and other needs for the program’s players and staff. Additionally, he’s heavily involved in the Israeli Premier Lacrosse League (IPLL), which plays its season during the summer.

He’s happy to do what he can for the sport in Israel, though, because it means he gets to represent his country in front of the world.

“Every time I’m standing for the national anthem before the game, it really shows how much this country has given me, and what I can give back to the country through the sport of lacrosse,” he said. “To put the Star of David and stand on the field and represent Israel, it means the world.”

Flapan’s last decade has been a whirlwind no one could have predicted, but he couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

“It’s been one wacky roller coaster ride that I wouldn’t trade for anything.”