EILAT, Israel — When he was playing basketball for the University of Richmond, the biggest concern T.J. Cline might have had was how to stop an opposing player or figure out the best way to attack a defense. For the past six years, Cline has played professionally in Israel and has come to understand that “attack” and “defense” have different meanings outside of sports.
“Every person (in Israel) has to go to the Army when they’re done with high school,” Cline said. “Everybody learns how to carry a gun. Everybody learns how intense the security is here."
Cline plays for Hapoel Eilat, a team in Israel’s southernmost city.
He is about 90 minutes away from Gaza where this past weekend’s hostilities were based.
Cline said he felt relatively safe but took precautions due to the unrest and uncertainty.
“All the American (players) came over to my house. We sat here and watched football and locked all the doors,” Cline said. “We barricaded ourselves in just in case of any situation that might happen. None of us wanted to leave the house. We didn’t even want the windows open to let people know there was light in here.”
Cline has played in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in previous years and reported that players from teams in those cities have already been evacuated.
His team’s season was scheduled to begin Monday night but is now on hold until further notice.
He has been told to sit tight as officials evaluate the situation.
“We were really excited but it’s obviously much bigger than basketball,” Cline said over Zoom. “They’re trying to understand what happened. How did the security breach happen, how did these people get in? (Sunday) night there was a situation around here where people thought there was a gunman on foot around our neighborhoods. That’s how Hamas got here, on foot. They’ve been taking over neighborhoods.”
“It turned out, it was the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) doing their check. But for that 30-second span, my heart was beating as fast as it ever has," Cline said.
Over the course of his career in Israel, Cline has gotten to know the people and the culture of what he now calls his second home.
Under the circumstances, it would be tempting to look elsewhere to continue his career, but he feels there’s a purpose to why he’s there.
“[Israelis] are a loving and family-based people,” Cline said. “They are also very proud. They don’t take any crap. These are our values.”
“It’s been a joy to be here,” Cline continued. “I have a group of friends here, I have family here. It’s an amazing country and they’re amazing people. I’m proud to be here.”
Cline also posts updates almost daily to his Instagram page. You can follow him here.
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