 Sherf became Maccabi Tel Aviv's head coach in the 1983–84 season, and stayed in that role through the 1985–86 season.In 1984, (at the age of 33), he became the senior men's Israeli national basketball team head coach.His first Israeli national team coaching tenure (which lasted three years), saw two EuroBasket appearances (1985, 1987) and Israel's historic 7th place finish at the 1986 FIBA World Basketball Championship.