Leo Camron

Education

Camron graduated from Natal University and also played for the Natal rugby team

Career

Leo Camron’s original family name was "Caminsky". He later became an artillery captain in the South African Army, and served in the North African campaigns of World World War World War II The entire family emigrated to Israel in 1951 and remained there until the end of 1956, after the Sinai War. They returned to South Africa where a 4th child was born - Alon.

The family went back to Israel in 1961 and settled in Ramat Hasharon.

The family adopted a Hebrew surname, Camron and Leo changed his first name to Arieh, which means "lion" in Hebrew. In Israel, he became an English teacher, and made a pioneering contribution to its teaching to students there.

He was the author of several English grammar books used by successive generations of Israeli school children. Camron succeeded in obtaining an appointment in the sports department of the Israel Defense Forces in 1951.

In 1952, Camron organised independent Israel’s first rugby match, between a group of South Africans, and a team of parachutists in the Israel Defense Forces. The match ball was somewhat unusual, being a shoe wrapped in a towel.

The game proved fairly popular in the Israel Defense Forces, thanks partly to its emphasis on aggression and team tactics. Camron soon organised other games, mainly between soldiers, and immigrants from the British Commonwealth. had been played in Israel before, but had more or less died out with the departure of the British. Camron made an attempt to get the Israel Defense Forces to adopt the game, but was unsuccessful due to institutional bureaucracy.

This was a bitter blow to his campaign, and led to him taking a more passive role in Israeli rugby until its revival by another group of South African immigrants in the 1970s.

Camron was also a keen supporter of cricket and lawn bowls in Israel. Like rugby, cricket had been played in Palestine during the British Mandate period, but had declined suddenly when Israel became independent.

Achievements

• The South Africans won 18-6. He was a founder member of the Israel Cricket Association, and gave out the medals at the 2002 International Cooperation Administration Awards.

Membership

Camron was a member of the original Israel cricket team in 1956.