Matkot

Let's have the first Matkot tournament at the University Club!

John

TEL AVIV—Spring has arrived on the beaches of Israel, and with it the perennial sound of batted balls.

Paddleball is the country's unofficial national sport. But this year the rat-tat-tat noise, the flying projectiles and flailing rackets that result have triggered a backlash and a bit of soul searching in the Jewish state.

Beach paddleball, known as matkot in Hebrew, has a hallowed place in Israel. In recent years, the sport has mutated. That mutation—known as "Bat Yam style" for the Tel Aviv beach suburb where it was pioneered in the 1990s—turned the quaint seaside pastime into a fast-paced, hard-hitting game. Since then, the style has spread—and so too have calls to ban the sport.  Read more.....