I have gained endless experiences with Dan Dan. He came to me at the tennis center in Ramat Hasharon when he was about 5 years old. He started playing tennis in Kfar Shmaryahu with a coach named Larry, who recognized Dan's talent and turned to me and asked me to see him. I will not forget his words. He said to me: "Elisha, listen - I have a diamond for you."
And how right he was!

When Dan first came to me in Ramat Hasharon, I thought he was not Israeli. He had such a South African look. He entered the field, I hit him with some balls, and I knew that I wanted this boy with me in training.

On the Sunday of the following week Dan had to come to practice but did not come. The same goes for Wednesday of the same week. I had a very strange time. I did not have his address or phone to try to find out what happened to him, so all week I was busy finding out where he lived and how I was contacting him. I worried about him. I eventually got his address and got to his house on Friday night. When he opened the door I saw that he had a large wound on his forehead and right hand in plaster. Broken. I went into his house, heard about what had happened to him and had dinner with the family. The following week, Dan Dan appeared in the center of Ramat Hasharon and asked to train with his left hand ...

It's hard to describe Dan in one word. He was a kid who had just about everything. Everything that can only be dreamed of.

He was beautiful, curious, kind-hearted and generous, polite. He knew how to cherish gratitude from a very young age but what stood out most was his intelligence. I remember seeing with my own eyes this child reading the Haaretz newspaper at the age of 7. But he was also a naughty boy. I do not forget to this day he hated collecting balls in training. When all the kids were running and collecting balls after Daryl, Dan would only act as if. He would kick the balls from one side to the other or to the fence, trying to dodge my eye. He was the smallest in the group so I gave up on him. To my surprise his teammates also failed to get angry at him.

He also had a nickname in tennis for Dan Dan - "Warm Floor".

As he did not like to collect balls, sometimes he was lazy on the field with his footwork. I remember one summer I went down to the field and told him "Dan Dan take off your shoes". He lowered and the floor below him burned and burned his legs so he started jumping. I said to him: "Do you see Dan what is footwork? It is footwork !!" Since at every workout when he was lazy, everyone around including Shmulik from the buffet would yell at him "warm floor", and Dan understood the code name and started moving ...

Dan was very much loved by everyone and it hardly mattered what he did. I admit I gave him special treatment. I could not resist him. He was a special boy. Ronit, Dan's mother, recognized my love and investment in Dan and gave me back quite a bit. A small example is the fact that there was no training of Dan in which she did not arrive with her hands  Walnut cake with wine and chocolate for me and the kids ... I felt that the Hanegbi family made me a real part of the family. Even Dan's grandfather would come to training occasionally, sit on benches between pitches 8-9 and just look at the training. 

Dan's family was and still is a warm family and not just towards me. Many children who would come to training or competitions in the center of Ramat Hasharon from Ashkelon and other distant places, knew they had a place to sleep. Oren Ben Zaken, Rafi Zedekiah and other children were all regularly hosted by the Hanegbi family. Their hospitality has become a household name among young tennis players.

I went through endless exciting and funny experiences with Dan Dan. At age 7, I taught him to drive. We would drive in my car down the side road to Canada Stadium and then do driving rounds around it. I got to travel years later with Dan Dan even for a ski vacation when he was about 13 years old.

I traveled with him for a month also to competitions in Uzbekistan.

Dan Dan may not have been the ultimate champion who brings his coach titles every Monday and Thursday, but he has returned in other and no less exciting and important ways the investment in him.

Dan decided to give up tennis when he turned 18 and volunteer for military service. It did not surprise me. He sent me a picture of him guarding Yasser Arafat in Muqata. He was a serious fighter.

Later when he was in college in the US we were less in touch, but he renewed himself after he graduated, married Sasha and was already a father to the children. He would send me pictures of him with Omri, his son, on the US tennis court, on the bike. He would also come to visit Israel and always made contact. Brought me endless gifts: phone, jacket, iPad with dedication, what not.

Dan Dan was just all heart and soul. That's why it's so hard for me to talk about it in a past language.    

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Elisha Chaim