Beyond the Finish Line: How Sport Builds Resilience and Leadership in WIZO Youth Villages

In WIZO’s youth villages, sport is far more than physical activity. It is a powerful educational tool, a framework for belonging, and a way for young people to discover strength, responsibility, and leadership within themselves.

This year, as students across Israel continue to navigate the emotional and social impact of war, the role of meaningful educational frameworks has become even more important. On the field, on the road, and within the group, WIZO youth village students are learning lessons that go far beyond sport: how to persevere, how to work together, how to ask for help, and how to become a source of strength for others.

One powerful example is WIZO’s partnership with Bartali Youth in Movement, a cycling-based educational program named after Gino Bartali, the legendary Italian cyclist who risked his life during the Holocaust to help save Jews. Today, the program operates in 16 centers across Israel, including three WIZO youth villages: WIZO Nahalal, WIZO Nir HaEmek, and WIZO Hadassim.

Through cycling, students take part in a year-long educational process that builds endurance, discipline, responsibility, and leadership. The end-of-year journeys mark the peak of that process. For some groups, this means riding for two or three days. For the WIZO Nahalal group, it means an extraordinary 300-kilometer journey from Nahalal to Jerusalem.

But the journey is not only about distance.

“The ride is the visible part,” explains Ran Margaliot, CEO of Bartali Youth in Movement. “What matters most is what happens inside the group. The students experience challenges, fatigue, frustration, falls, and moments of doubt. They learn how to help, how to ask for help, and how to see one another even when no one says out loud that they are struggling.”

In Bartali, the group is the heart of the process. Students are not passive participants. They help prepare the equipment, take responsibility for planning, support one another along the way, and lead parts of the ride. Each day, participants are given roles such as leading the group, riding at the back, managing water, equipment, or first aid.

There is even a Bartali rule: at the end of every climb, the strongest riders turn back to support the last riders.

That simple act carries a deep educational message. Success is not measured only by who reaches the top first, but by whether the group arrives together.

Over time, the students’ sense of identity begins to change. They are no longer only young people receiving support. They become leaders who can support others. Some continue into training as young guides or young mechanics, taking responsibility for younger participants who look up to them.

“When a student understands that younger participants are watching them, relying on them, and learning from them, something changes,” says Margaliot. “Cycling is a powerful tool because it demands real responsibility. The students learn that they are capable not only of overcoming challenges, but of becoming meaningful for someone else.”

This same belief in sport as a vehicle for education and social change was also reflected this year in The Village League, a social and educational football initiative connecting hundreds of youth village students across Israel with professional football clubs.

The 2025/26 season-ending tournament took place at the Israel Football Association’s national training center in Shefayim, bringing together students from youth villages across the country. For WIZO, it was also a moment of pride: WIZO Nahalal won second place in the middle school division, and WIZO Hadassim won first place in the top division.

This year, the Village League carried special meaning. Against the backdrop of war, rising social tension, and growing concern over violence in Israeli society, the program emphasized sport as a space for resilience, self-control, respect, teamwork, and nonviolent conflict resolution.

Football, when accompanied by values-based guidance, becomes more than a game. It becomes a social classroom. On the field, young people learn how to manage pressure, respect opponents, work as a team, and channel energy into positive action.

Together, Bartali Youth in Movement and the Village League reflect a core belief at the heart of WIZO education: young people need frameworks that challenge them, believe in them, and give them meaningful roles within a community.

Whether cycling up a difficult hill or standing together on a football field, WIZO students are learning that strength is not only physical. It is the ability to keep going, to support others, to take responsibility, and to understand that every challenge can become a step toward growth.

In WIZO youth villages, sport is not just about reaching the finish line. It is about the person each student becomes along the way.