There is a large complex of sporting facilities located at Park Hayarkon. It offers basketball, skating, rollerblading and soccer courts, as well as jogging and bicycle lanes. It can get very crowded at the weekend. There is also a climbing wall on the site.
Although not an official sport Matkot is extremely popular on Israeli beaches: it’s basically beach tennis. If you hang around the beach in Tel-Aviv you’ll see the pros, typically heavily tanned men well over 50 vigorously striking the rubber ball across large distances.
The two major sports in Israel and Tel Aviv are soccer (football) and basketball. The Tel Aviv and Israeli teams are lagging far behind the European leaders but have still made good progress in recent years. Soccer matches are usually held on Saturday in Blumfild stadium, Jaffa, or at the Ramat Gan national stadium. Basketball matches are held in Yad Eliahu (the home of Maccabi Tel-Aviv) and Usishkin (home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv).
During the summer, Tel-Aviv's beaches host various beach volleyball tournaments. The main events are usually held on Jerusalem beach. The West Shore is situated on the border between Tel Aviv and Jaffa, near the Etzel museum, and is one of the best surfing spots in city. The swell is high so is more suited to proficient surfers. A little north of the West Shore and partly protected by a water break is the Dolifinarium Beach, more suited to the inexperienced surfer.The Hilton Beach is close to the Tel Aviv Marina and is probably the best all round surfing beach in Tel Aviv. The beach is rocky however. For a sandy beach head for Tel Baruch beach in the north of Tel Aviv, bordering with Hertzlia.
Kite surfing is more and more popular in Tel Aviv, particularly in the Dolifinarium. Go there early evening on a Friday and soak up some of the sights, sounds and colours of beach life as the sun goes down. For kayaking head for Hilton Beach once again; here there are sections divided up for surfers and Kayaks.