The events of October 7 at the Gaza border and the Nova Festival have left deep emotional scars on the survivors and the bereaved families. In response, the Nova Tribe Association was founded by the festival's organizers to support survivors and their families in their recovery and return to normalcy.
As part of this initiative, Israel's Sports Association established a soccer team consisting of about 20 survivors and family members who regularly train under the guidance of a coach from the Football Association. In addition, the association also runs table tennis and basketball teams.
Training sessions occur every Monday at the Waldorf facility in the Hadar Yosef neighborhood of Tel Aviv, from 20:00 to 22:00. The ultimate goal of this initiative is to prepare the team for competitive play, with their first challenge being a special tournament scheduled for November against the displaced community from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Paz Amar, a survivor and the sports director at the Nova Tribe Community Association, shared, "The idea of forming the team and the soccer initiative for festival survivors and bereaved families is very close to my heart. As a child, I played in the youth division of Hapoel Tel Aviv, which was a significant part of my life. I see sports as a powerful tool—the best therapy for me—to help cope, connect, and strengthen. My goal is to transform my passion for sports into something meaningful for all of us. Creating a soccer team for the Nova Festival survivors and their bereaved families is a way to build a supportive community that fosters meeting, connection, and coping in a healthy and empowering manner."
Rif Peretz, Chairman of the Nova Tribe Community Association, said "The association aims to rehabilitate and support survivors and bereaved families, commemorate victims, and educate about the events both in Israel and globally. To achieve this, the association engages in various activities, organizes community social events, initiates memorial services, and builds commemorative exhibits in Israel and abroad. We raise support and donations, all of which are directed back to the families and survivors, thereby significantly and respectfully strengthening community activities and remembrance efforts."