Yehoshua Rozin

Yehoshua Rozin was born in 1918

Rozin was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1918. His parents had left Tel Aviv for Egypt after the Ottomans expelled the city's Jewish residents during World War I. The family returned to Tel Aviv soon after his birth.

He studied at the Tachkemoni elementary school and finished high school at the commercial high school later called Geula Gymnasium. As a teenager he focused on handball and tennis.

In 1932 he joined a group of players who formed the first core of the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team. He played for the club and became its first coach in 1938. He left in 1970, returned for 2 more seasons in 1972 to 1973, and ended a period of 40 years with the club.

He was the first coach of the national team, starting with the Land of Israel team in 1947. He coached Israel at the European Championships in 1961 and 1963 and also coached many other clubs, including Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem. He helped found the school for basketball coaches at the Wingate Institute.

He was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and received the Israel Prize in 1999. He was married to Yafa Katzurin. He died in 2002.