Photo Courtesy of Yaniv Kovalski
Senior Yaniv Kovalski smiling signing his scholarship to play football at Stonehill College.
By Desmond Bernal
When Yaniv Kovalski toured colleges hoping to convince coaches to offer him a scholarship, he would be initially met with skepticism.
He quickly noticed that some schools looked over his physical characteristics and athleticism and focused solely on being a foreigner.
“The day before visiting Pace University, the coach asked if he could give me a call, and I said sure. The first thing he said on the phone was, ‘oh, you are real,’ and I said to him, ‘yeah, what do you mean I am real,’” Kovalski said.
That skepticism haunted his search for a college scholarship during his trip to the United States for 23 days, determined to find a spot on a team.
“I had a mission to get to college and was going to do whatever I had to do to win that mission,” he said.
That all came to an end on Feb. 5, the day he could prove to everyone back home that the time and effort he sacrificed was worth it.
Born in Jerusalem, Kovalski was 17 when he was introduced to football and had little to no knowledge.
Himmelfarb high school football coaches saw Kovalski’s size and strength and convinced him to join their football team.
Kovalski said he went into the first practice looking like “a deer in headlights,” having no clue what was in store for him.
“They stuck me in the O-line with a bunch of big guys, and they said just block,” he said. “I said, what do you mean? They pointed at the guy in front of me and said, do not let him through.”
Kovalski did something right that day because two days later, he would play in the game.
Come to find out, he played that game because the team’s best player got injured before the game, and the team needed someone.
It so happened that Kovalski was the same size, so he used all his equipment to play because he did not have any.
“I did okay, but it was funny because I made a lot of penalties like holding because they did not explain anything because I was still learning,” Kovalski said.
Kovalski would learn more about the game of football through watching YouTube videos and trial and error.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), an organization from the United States that organized clinics for athletes in Israel, would help take his game to another level.
It would be Kovalski’s ticket to college in the United States and earning himself a scholarship to a program. At this clinic, he would meet Terry Hill, a retired college coach, who would become a father figure and help get his name out there.
After high school, he played in the Israel Football League, a league funded by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his foundation.
Kovalski played for six seasons in the IFL, earning the team’s Most Valuable Big Man for three seasons, two All-IFL First Team Offensive Line awards, and two championships. While at the time giving his service in a pre-military program followed by a year in the military.
Managing to accumulate 23 vacation days off from the military, Kovalski used those days to fly to New York, where his aunt lived.
He would use her car to drive to all the meetings and tryouts he had with colleges alongside the east coast and down south. He brought a duffle bag with all the equipment needed to do the tryout right at that moment.
“I came prepared and did not want any excuses on why I could not try out right at that moment,” Kovalski said.
On his last day in the United States, he would drive to Stonehill to sign his scholarship, making him the first Israeli football player to earn a scholarship to a college in the U.S.
Kovlaski gives to Ofir Levi, his mentor, and trainer, while in Israel, all the credit to the kind of player he is today. Levi would push him and get him into shape after his surgery on his hernia went wrong and got Kovalski into shape for camp at Stonehill.
“I thought he was crazy at the time because the doctors had not cleared me, but he showed me that I could do it,” he said.
Kovalski is a senior at Stonehill going into his fifth fall, bringing the same energy that got him here to fight for the starting center spot on the offensive line.
“I am a part of the history of the league, of Israel, and football,” he said. “The fact that I was able to start as a tackle, as a guard, as a long snapper, and soon enough as a center. As an Israeli that did not grow with football and only knew football existed at the age athletes in the United States come to college. Without having real coaches until coming to the United States using YouTube as a coach; with injuries and surgeries; being from overseas and a foreigner and ending up starting four different positions at the end, it is pretty cool to me.”
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