Eli Beard brings Israel national team experience to Ascent

ISRAEL SOCCER

Eli Beard is the first Israeli athlete to play with the Carolina Ascent of USL Super League. Beard, who was born in the United States, also plays on Israel's women's national team.

Charlotte is becoming the American home for Israeli national soccer team players.

Two of the three Israelis in Major League Soccer – Liel Abada and Idan Toklomati – joined Charlotte FC in 2024. Now add Elianna “Eli” Beard, who came to Charlotte this summer to join the Carolina Ascent, a USL Super League team.

Playing the fall to spring schedule that matches up with the European competition calendar, the Ascent have one more match Saturday at Ft. Lauderdale United (7:30 p.m., TV- Peacock) before the league takes a winter break. After leading the league for most of the season, the Ascent are third with a 5-2-6 record.

What differs Beard from Abada and Toklomati is that she was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She grew up in a conservative Jewish household, attending the Portland Jewish Academy. She went to high school at St. Mary’s, and played colleiately at Marquette from 2014-17.

Before her senior year, Beard took a birthright trip to Israel, “where I continued to strengthen my Jewish identity that I formed through my years at PJA.” She had been to Israel previously on a Bat Mitzvah trip with her family.

Beard’s third visit to the Holy Land would be as a professional soccer player. She hadn’t planned on playing after college, intending to return to Portland, and possibly get into coaching, “because I loved the game, and I didn't want to get away from it.” But then she connected with an agent through a friend. That led to an offer to play in Kazakhstan, where Beard joined the dominant team, BIIK Kazygurt. She quickly learned that playing in college and competing as a professional are not the same thing.

“It was tough. A little bit of culture shock,” Beard said. “Very intense training, a high-level team that was made up of players from all over the world, Nigeria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, America, all over, so kind of being on a team blended like that was tough. But it was a really amazing experience to be able to play [in UEFA] Champions League right away.

“Playing Barcelona was one of the highlights of my career so far,” she told TribalSoccer.com, “especially beating them when we hosted them, but definitely a cool experience playing against their top players.”

Beard had a short contract there, but her opportunities were just beginning.

“I got a call from an Israeli coach, and he said, I want to come on over after you finish in Kazakhstan and play here, and eventually you can get your citizenship and play on the national team. So, I was super excited about that opportunity.”

Beard’s next stop was Maccabi Holon, which had great success in the early 2000s. That’s where Beard made an even greater commitment: to gain dual citizenship with the goal of competing for the Israeli national team. But FIFA has strict rules about that. Even with gaining citizenship through the Right of Return, without having a parent or grandparent who was born in Israel, it would take five years before she could do that.

So, she stayed, moving to WFC Ramat Hasharon for a season, taking a short contract with Ungmennafélag Grindavíkur in Iceland, before returning to join FC Kiryat Gat, where she played from 2021 until returning to the United States to join the Ascent.

Of her time in Israel, Beard said, “I just loved my experience. Love the culture over there. I just feel at home.” Her on-field experience was also fruitful. Kiryat won three league titles. During the 2021/22 season, Beard scored the game-winning goal in the Israeli National Cup final and helped her side win its third championship of the year, the Athena Cup.

She says the level of play in Israel is improving.

“They do attract a lot of good players, a lot of good individual talent,” Beard told TribalSoccer. “Each team can have up to five foreigners. A lot of teams will get some Jewish-Americans that will come over and get their citizenship, so that technically we could have more if they are citizens.”

"That’s what I count as — I’m a foreign player but not really (due to dual citizenship). I think there is still a drop-off; you will have a team with nine solid players and a few younger ones… That is the next step, being able to field teams that are a strong eleven and have that bench as well. But the level has gone up over the years. A lot of players come over, play, and come back to the States and play or go to other leagues. I still don’t think it has the respect it deserves.”

Representing Israel

There is something special about wearing a national team jersey that is just different from anything else. After five years, Beard finally got to experience that, making her debut for Israel in the UEFA League of Nations tournament, and then played in qualifiers for the Euro League B tournament. Because of the conflict in Gaza, Israel’s men’s and women’s teams have had to play home matches in Hungary. She now has seven caps for Israel.

While several national team players are playing collegiately in the U.S., Beard is the only one on a professional American team. Most play in Israel, although several compete in Germany, Austria, and Spain.

Finally getting her chance to play for Israel, it also opened freedom to play elsewhere, and the advent of the Super League was perfect timing.

“I connected with Eli’s agent during our initial roster build and was discussing the profile of the kind of player, and person, we wanted to recruit,” Ascent coach Philip Poole said. “I told him I wanted a player who could bring high levels of professional experience, and also possess the potential to develop her game to new heights. He delivered.”

“I wanted to play back in the States, close to friends and family,” Beard admits. “When the league came about, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to be able to play back home. I recently got engaged. My fiancé is now a four-hour drive away instead of a long flight away. So just being stateside has been great.”

“Eli has been such a professional since joining us,” Poole said. “She brings a level of experience and shows that she is a player who will excite crowds. She’s been great around the locker room and in the community.”

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