Our Give-Back Quarterback
By Emily Raij
Harrison Shames grew up in Altamonte Springs, attending Lake Orienta Elementary, Milwee Middle, and Lyman High before graduating from UCF in 2014 with a degree in sport and exercise science and a specialization in coaching. During college, he went on a Birthright trip and got his first taste of Israel, but he returned home and focused on his dream to become a football coach. After assistant-coaching stints at Hagerty, University, Seminole, and Winter Park high schools, Harrison was ready to take the next step as a coach, debating between college football or going international.
“My mom suggested Israel, and I had to see if they even play American football there,” Harrison recalls.
They do, and in June of 2015, Harrison became head football coach for the Mazkeret Batya Silverbacks, an amateur American football team based in Mazkeret Batya, Israel, that competes in the Israel Football League. A few months later, he also started teaching English as a fellow with Masa Israel Journey.
“I thought I would just go to Israel for a year but stayed three and met my wife there,” says Harrison, who also used his time in Israel to earn a master’s degree in recreation and sport sciences from Ohio University and teach a football coaching course at the Wingate Institute in Netanya.
In June of 2018, Harrison moved back to Florida with his soon-to-be wife Chen and also returned to coaching and teaching physical education at Winter Park High School. The couple moved into a house just two streets away from the childhood home where Harrison’s parents still live, married in 2021, and welcomed their daughter Andie this past July. It would not be the only new and exciting experience for Harrison that week. Just a couple of days after Andie’s birth, Harrison was offered a job as senior campaign executive with Orlando JNF-USA.
“This past summer, I saw an opportunity with JNF-USA and the beautiful work they do, and it was a good time to reconnect with Israel again,” says Harrison. “Two amazing things happened at once. Having Andie and starting with JNF-USA.”
In his current role, Harrison gets to reconnect with Israel personally while connecting others to the country. As a former educator, he especially enjoys sharing Israel’s potential by meeting local community members and educating them on the work JNF does there. That work is diverse and far-reaching with numerous affiliates focusing on seven major areas: community building, forestry and green innovations, disabilities and special needs, research and development, heritage sites, water solutions, and education/advocacy.
“It’s the local municipalities we get to work with – that’s what makes our work meaningful and impactful, and how we get things done,” says Harrison.
The Alexander Muss High School in Israel study-abroad program is in the JNF-USA fold, as well, and Harrison says a goal of his is to send a minyan of local students there each year. Many people also know JNF-USA for its tree-planting initiatives and iconic blue tzedakah boxes.
“Everyone thinks of us as the trees and blue box people, but it’s a lot more than that,” explains Harrison. “Certain aspects of what we do touch different people. If special needs is something that is near and dear to your heart, we do a tremendous amount with special needs. Or community building. It just opens up the opportunity for people to be really involved with what we do. If you care about Israel and want to see some of the amazing things we do, I want to get you on board.”
Harrison hopes to return to Israel to spend Passover with Chen’s family and see those amazing things firsthand. In the meantime, he enjoys being able to spend Shabbat with his family – including his parents, siblings, and their children
“I’m really grateful for the support of my family and friends,” says Harrison, “especially my wife and Andie, but my folks, too. And I’m really happy that even though we don’t live in Israel, we still feel very connected.”
Story was originally published in print in Spring 2023.