quarter final

we beat Nittere Menina 4-0 in a cold December rain. We were sloppy and slippery like the field, but able to put 4 goals into the old onion bag, as famous commentator would say about the net.
We are now in Hiroshima and play on Christmas Eve for the right to travel to Tokyo for the Semi-Final. The opponent; INAC, the main rival.
As Christmas festive is in the air and the Main road, The Peace Street, is filled with many decoration. I can see from my hotel window and it is really nice. Nice to be in Big city for this time of the year.
Rural Japan do enjoy Christmas, but the decoration and the atmosphere is nothing compare to the big city. Big city rules!!
I was able to visit HMV, the CD store, and Starbucks to enjoy fine chai-tea latte. I can't drink coffee anymore for my heart reason. Still nice to walk around the city to see the hustle and bustle of the people. And it's weekend, too!
Well, I hope we can beat INAC. We need to take shot and the shots need to be in the air, aiming at the cross bar as their goalie is SMALL! Defensively, they like to dump the ball near and into the box and cause havoc and take shots and chance around that area. So we need to mark up tightly and put body on them.
It should be interesting game. Lots of emotion, I reckon. AND I NEED TO BE FOCUS.

post season

tomorrow is 3rd round of 29th All Japan Women's Football Tournament. The opponent is Nittere Menina, which belong to Nittere Beleza. Youth team of Beleza.
They are technically sound girls, and young. They will be running around us all day tomorrow. So I reckon we need to be physical.

We had two weeks since the regular season was over and I believe we are ready to take on.

wish us good luck

2-0 win to close the season

We beat Iga 2-0 to finish the season 5th in the League, dropping one rank from last season. We were hoping for the bottom team to upset the team above us, INAC, so that we could move up, but that wasn't to be. INAC won 3-1.
Iga came into the game needing a point to secure another season at the top flight, and they came to play. We talked about counter attack and how their Back 4 could be vulnerable if ball is kicked between them and the keeper. Back 4's speed is ordinary, and we proved right less then 2 minutes into the game, 1st real chance, and we were able to go up 1-0.
It's a shame for a team that tries to play positive football, they now had to find an equalizer. They attacked with purpose, and our poor defending on the flanks gave them chance to attack, but we were strong in the center of the field. however, we simply kicked the ball away and gave the ball back to them, resulting that we had to defend and play bunker style soccer and counter attack. We were supposedly to possess the ball and if there is space behind Iga's Back 4, we'll kick. Well, our Back 4, as a unit, was having a shocker. Especially our full backs (side backs) couldn't hold the ball, couldn't kick the ball, but somehow manage to defend just enough.
That is what we did all after noon. Defend just enough. Iga created opportunities, but their final passes, including crosses, failed to get through or bad control allowed us to gather the ball and put it away to safety.
We were able to double our lead 4 minutes into 2nd half from set piece. In today's soccer, you need dead ball specialist, and we are so fortunate to have one.
But even after the score, we were again under pressure and towards the end, Iga was able to create 1 on 1 with GK, but superb saving to her right sealed our successive shout-out and same score line, 2-0.
now we're have two days off and 13 days until 3rd round of All Japan Cup.
Wish us good luck.

Last regular season game

So, since our 2-0 lost to Beleza, we beat Niigata 2-0 at Niigata. Niigata is located Northern Japan, facing sea of Japan. It was raining and windy and yeah, it was bloody cold. But we won, that was important.
Past two weeks, we have been inviting trialists to our training. Thanks to the number of trialists, our training looked better. More number in the training, we can do more things, like 10 v 10, full-field trainings. And these trialists are busting hard, the training has been bit edgy at sometimes. But I would rather see that. I think it has helped the team with physical conditioning, mental toughness. I think one of the reason in winning at cold Niigata was to have tough training.
Today is our last game of the season. We play Iga, the lady ninjas (that's not their real nickname). We have won 1 and drew 1. We should do well.

we got manhandled

We played Nittere Beleza and lost 2-0. You may think, 2 nil to an opposition that crushed you by the combined score of 13-0 in the last two games? Wouldn't you say it's a moral victory?
NO, NO, NO.
It was our home game and perhaps they were tired from long trip, or colder weather. But the fact is that they are mile ahead of us in terms of skills, fitness, and rest. They passed the ball well, but luckily for us they got too fancy in front of the goal and we were able to get rid of the ball. Yes, get rid of the ball.
You want to take the ball away and then begin attacking or pass the ball around to build up the attack, but we just kicked away or gave it away. We couldn't hold on to the ball for more than 5 second, I reckon.... Our #10 was the only person who were willing to hold on to the ball. Our other players just looked like they didn't want the ball. Our forwards were willing to take on the ball, but they hardly got the ball.
we are not strong enough, either. Physically we need to get stronger.
We were too tense, too! Our goalie had a off day in her kicking game.
We were out classed, man handled...

Riding luck is not good enough

We lost 2-0. We rode our luck to fullest, but they decided to take the matter straight forward by being physical. We rode the luck for 72 minutes, but we weren't physically up to the challenge by putting the body on them.
When they forced the issue, we allowed them to do whatever. We had lots of scare, but there is so much you can do, when you get physically tired, by getting the blows.
Running around to chase the ball and when we did win back the ball, we couldn't posses for more than 3, 4 passes.
We deserved the loss.

busy?

when you are busy, I guess the blogs get left behind. I wanted to use this to record what's been going in my coaching life.
Well, when you really put your time into coaching and working, and since I don't have a Internet at home, you don't have time.
And I am Single, so I have to cook. Remember I live in rural Japan where I can not find a good restaurant, actually there is none. There are some ramen noodle joints, which they are good.
So there you have it, I have to cook for myself!
As for coaching, things are going okay. we are playing Urawa Reds Ladies. The men's side won the Asian Confederation's Champion's League. And after our game, the men's are playing later in the evening. And for the men's they win, they win the league for the second year in a roll.
I reckon, the game will be rowdy. It's away game for us.
I'm gonna keep myself busy, eh.

0-1 lost to Tasaki

For us it was a challenge to earn a point from them and we worked all week on defending; individually and collectively. If we were lucky leave Himeji with three point. For Tasaki, it was just win, baby. And We lost....
Himeji, a city famous for Japanese castle, was the neutrual site but refs weren't. But bitching about refs don't do much so we'll leave it to that
We started well but they had the first chance at goal, but our goalie was up for the challenge as she made sound save. She would also guide the defense and made several good saves, and she was busy.
we were able to attack the right side, but we again struggle to penetrate due to bad control and pass. I don't think the decisions were wrong, just we weren't accurate and seemed like we were just kicking at the direction hoping our teammate would get there.
As for Tasaki, they just sit back and played sound but very boring football. Like the old Arsen*l would play - not like Arsene Wenger type of Gooners. Soak up our attack and played simple counter attack or possessed the ball at the back. We did well enough for 43 minutes, but we were caught ball watching as they attacked from right side to left side then we lost track of their forward and when the crossed the ball, that lost forward headed the ball and wrong footed our goalie.
Second half was again ordinary as we attacked but lacked accuracy, and Tasaki was content on holding the lead. We did have shots on goal but they defended well. And they kept the possession of the ball which we had to chase all second half. As I said earlier, we lacked accuracy or able to hold the ball, so even when we did get the ball we gave it back to them rather quickly.
But we did certain things good. Tasaki is very good football team with strong kicking legs. With their speedy attackers, we contained them well. We did win second ball as we contested the ball well to win it. We did defend well collectively for 90 minutes. Now we need to defend well individually. If we can defend individually, it would be much easier to defend collectively.
And the best team of the league showed us how to do that.

visiting Eddie

I met Eddie Jones, Former Wallabies head coach (rugby) and who also helped South Africa win 2007 Rugby World Cup over this past Tuesday.
I had a good conversation. He has been my mentor since my days at Suntory. He is still the Technical Advisor for Suntory Rugby team.
I learned a lot from him and I was able to get meaningful discussion about coaching.
Of course, I got some stern lecture from him as I need them from him. Good learning experience and later on, I helped him translate for Keio University's rugby team.
That evening, I also helped my friend's team which also happened to be Keio's women's soccer. I had fun. Over all good day to catch up with my mentor and friend.

decent win

Today's game was against bottom team O-Hara. Not O'hara.
We figured they will Bunker down and fight for their lives for the point and possibly sneak out with a win. They were indeed came out fighting all guns blazing, very physical, but they played positive soccer. They actually attacked with numbers committed when they attacked.
We were better team and we attacked fairly decent. Our Forward for the most of the part did their job by holding the ball. Early in the game we had chances to score, but credit to them, they soaked up the attack well. They did their homework, and caused us trouble on the flanks, because our outside midfielders, couldn't hold the ball or penetrate by dribble.
We were losing the battle on the flanks, and as they were slowly growing in confidence we scored from a free kick to deflate their confidence. Now they had to attack to equalized. Yet, we were poor in attacking the flanks, we gave them possession of the ball quite often, which they counter attacked. Our back 4 did well to repel counter attacks. and our defensive midfield.
Second half started just like 1st half, and pace of the game was borderline frantic. By end of our 1st half our forwards were also losing ball, so we subbed in for our captain who's slowly gaining playing time. Today she was going to play 45 minutes, which was bit of a gamble, but it paid off within 5 minutes of 2nd half. She rose to meet the early cross from our right flank, one of our better attack from there, headed home a vital second goal for the team, first one for her after long rehab for her torn ACL. Congrats to her!
We added another to seal the win. We lost concentration after the 3rd goal and they attacked and we conceded 2 yellow card (two different players), which was unwanted. Our goalie was hardly involved but she was called into action in the last 10 minutes of the game with few good diving save; they were comfortably saved. But Corner Kicks and crosses caused trouble because of poor marking.... But we won the game, though we're shocking on the flanks.
For the fans this game was good for them, we did well enough to win and fairly entertaining. For coach, we need to sort out our attack, especially on the flanks.
This win confirmed us that we will not finish dead last Mathematically. We could still get sucked into the relegation battle. So we still have to work hard. Clearly we got more work to do.

Halloween

Today is All Saints' Day. Yesterday was Halloween or All-Hallow-Even.
I gave elementary kids about the history and origin of Halloween. And I gave them candies, too.
I was fun. I hope I can post some pics soon.
Life is fine.
Today's training had some real intensity and I enjoyed it.

Physical confrontation

We lost to INAC, closest rival, 2-1. They scored both halves and we were on the back foot all day. All week we worked on improving the quality serving of crosses, but we hardly saw them. In the meeting, we talked about switching the field so that we can serve better balls, but we never saw them. Instead, INAC took our game plan and executed very well. They did not look like a team that relied on individual brilliance and counter attack, which they did against us previous three games. We were the one that looked like relying on certain players and set pieces to score and defend. We weren't disciplined. We weren't physically tough. I reckon, that is something other teams have picked up and they are confronting us. Yeah, we can win initial 50-50 balls or 2nd ball (after heading for example) but they will put body on us and stop us from attacking forward and go backwards or take the ball away from us....
We need at least 7 points from next 6 games to secure us from the drop to second division. Next week's game is against a team at the bottom of the league and desperate to get a point.
Physicality will be the key.

Fogs

Since I am living the hills and as the weather is getting colder there is often fogs in the morning. When there is a fog in the morning, at least you know it won't rain. Some days are very thick, and it won't clear up until 10ish in the morning. And since I am not used to the fog, I drive very carefully. But as it clears up, it is quite a scenery.
So one more round of games left in the season. 7 more to be exact. Then play-offs.
This weekend's game is our arch-rival INAC. So far in the league we are 1-1 but when including the cup games, we are 1-2. So we need to win. Simple as that. Don't matter how.
we heard that the goalie for INAC will be starting a back up. We can't confirm it so we just have to prepare to play to our best of our ability.

Should be exciting.

Tough draw, bad day at the office

we drew 1-1 to the lady ninjas, Kunoichi, of Iga. Tough match as they are trying to craw out of relegation zone. They were fast and physical. Although we were able to win the initial second ball or 50-50 but because of their physicality they were able to regain possession, so the game was fast pace. Up and down. We had early chance and in normally, our National player Aya, would score, but with only goalie to beat she shanked it straight to GK. I'm not sure but see had a off day. She even kicked her corner kick out of bounds, which is rare.
So, it was up to others to pick it up, but they kept passing to her hoping for a magical touch by her, regain herself, or they just don't have confidence in themselves.
But she didn't and we struggled physically. They scored first in the second half, but we were able to equalized late to salvage the match with a point.
This game could have gone either way. Had we scored early, then who knows. But they always looked dangerous.
7 more games to go with one more rounds to play each team. Some are trying to get out of relegation zone, others are battling out for the championship, and we are pretty much in for the mid-table finish. We need to play well, and build it toward play-offs. One game at a time, with not looking ahead.

Walking thru the town of Iga

Iga is a small town with a small castle town. Yeah, also famous for Ninja but also famous for producing one of the famous "Haiku" Poet, Basho Matsuo.
I strolled the town to look for a cafe, but most of them was closed. I went to the book store and bought some CDs and asked for a cafe.
The cafe it turned out to be more of a pub, but never the less, I was able to sit down for a read. I had a beer instead.
There I met few English people and was happy to use the common language of English.
Good luck to them, they teach English.
Good luck to us as we're about to go in and play the Kunoichi - women ninja. They are quick, you know.....

Going to Ninja country

We're going to play Iga Kunoichi. Iga is famous for ninja town. Kunoichi is the name for female Ninja. We won last game at home and we are going into Iga to beat the women ninja.
They are quick and play lots of 1-2 pass and they try to attack the flank. In their Defensive Midfielder is a national team member with deadly accurate pass. And She's tall.
So if we play long ball tactics, you better make sure it goes over her head.
She's not so fast so we need to attack their flank just like they want to do. Beat'em to it!
Travel is by bus.

wish us good luck.

Also this weekend the Rugby World Cup final. England vs South Africa, I say GO BOKS!

concentration

Today's game was won by our sheer concentration and determination. We were able to score early to control the game, but credits to Niigata they were poised and they actually looked better than us.
We were able to win ball and carry the up to the Final 1/3 of the field but when we get close to the goal, they had the numbers to prevent us from penetrating, but also we didn't control the ball as well as we could have. So, we kept the game close for them.
Second half were the same. But, as they were looking for equalizer and we were looking for goal to put the game away, game became more active with ball going up and down the field. But second goal came from set piece. They had defended with determination but we were able to squeak pass one. Then Niigata decided to go for broke and we punished them with 3 goals including an own goal.
So the final score 5-0 and we were able to cut down our goal differential, and were able to finish the game in the second half, but we need to create more chances in 1st half and score when the opportunity arrives.
We were better team as far as concentration is concern.

turtle dish

I had an opportunity to eat "Suppon" a soft shell turtle: Japanese soup style. I have to say it tasted like chicken.
I wonder why so many food taste or feel like chicken?
Either way, the turtle was great and the nutrient is plenty. Rich in Collagen and we got few girls with knee problem, and I hear that Collagen is good for your joints and skin, so I hope the girls ate a lot. You know them girls need them.....
here is the pic of what the turtle looks like.
http://www.nara-edu.ac.jp/ECNE/kaerhebi/kaisetu/suppon.htm
don't mind the Japanese wording.

against weeker(?) opponents

So, after the beat down handed by Beleza, our girls decide to have a player's only meeting. And after trainings they have been doing lots of talking and doing pick up trainings by themselves.
Pick up trainings is a training for after all the team training is done. Usually, the numbers involved in the pick ups are few, but for this week's, everyone has been involved. I wouldn't say they are close to pushing the panic bottom, but I do feel that they feel a sense of urgency to get a result: win.
We are going to play Niigata this Sunday. It should be interesting. And it's a home game.

demolition

Demolition is the appropriate word when you get thrashed 8-0....
Yes, we missed our game captain. Yes, she is the rock in defense. Yes, our depth is short.
But still.....
Life goes on....
Positive is that we had 4 shots on goal. and that is 4 times more than last game! Last game we had none....
we looked better in second half, after going down 5-0 in first half!
Our head coach told girls not to allow them to score in the first 5 or 10 minutes! We did not allow them score until the 11th minute.
The game could have been 9-0 but thanks to officiating blunder and good advocating from our side of the bench, we were able to disallow a goal for offside, when it wasn't even close.
So we are now getting ready for Niigata.

Yokohama Metropolitan.

I am in Hiratsuka, suburb for Yokohama. Quite town with J-league team in the city. They are called Hiratsuka Bellmare. www.bellmare.co.jp
Actually they are called Shonan Bellmare. sorry.

We are staying Nice hotel called Grand Hotel Kanatsuki. I should take pic but I may infringe on some rights possibly so I won't.

Tomorrow's game is going to be interesting with our best defender out with knee injury....
Not the best way to resume our season nor not the best way for the league to resume with hardly no rest with that silly National Sport Festival.....

wish us good luck

Season Resumes

So we resume our regular season Monday. Monday is National Holiday - National Sports Day. Our Opponent is Nittere Belleza, the team that thrashed us 5-0. It should be interesting because it is away game and how we will play.
Training has been okay. The girls has had a tough week, and our head coach has been trying to find a right combination of drills and weight of loading. And for me it has been a good learning.
As for the goalie training I was able to communicate with our goalies to find the right amount of training. I think....
And the season will roll on......

4th in the National Sport Festival

I learned that we finished 4th in the National Sports Festival in Akita.
Great stuff considering we did not have our whole team up there. Great stuff for one of our players to score 5 goals! I hope some of the scoring problem has been solved.
For the girl that scored 5 goals, I bet it is a great confidence boost. I personally don't care how she scored. Whether our great National team player set her up nicely or not. She worked and earned them. Good on her.

They will be back tonight and then we got a regular season game on Monday.... busy week for some of our girls. Hope they can get a decent rest before season resume in Monday.

Harvest time!

Today, I want to talk about harvesting rice. Not soccer. As you all know I go to school and assist teachers in various classes. I also eat lunch with them, but that's not what we're talking about.

This is part of class for second and fifth graders. Did I tell you this before?

please refer back to the June 15's blog.

So yesterday, Friday 29, we harvested the rice we planted. the kids did some plucking the weeds from the rice paddy.

So here are the pics enjoy

This was before we started harvesting around 9:20

You can see the kids getting busy.
and it took only an hour to finish it off.
And this me with the weapon of choice.

After we cut them, we bundle up them and then we hang it on this. As you can see, this old man is making the hanger.
And we split the bundle in half and then hang them to dry.
We are preparing to eat rice on the paddy we harvest and all the rice is hanged up!
Kids are getting ready to chow down!
Don't forget our teacher and the old man who taught us how to plan and how to cut the rice.

learning curb?

I'm starting to see what is happening in the training. normally I'm just following the ball, but I'm starting to see what is developing and the problem our head coach wants to see.
Next, I need to be able to find the solution to the problem.

Not going to the big dance

I'm not going to Akita Prefecture for the National Sports festival, representing the Prefecture of Okayama. Due to budgeting situation, they are only going to send our head coach and another coach.... I'm bummed that I won't be able to experience the busy game-played-everyday schedule, but I will be here working on the back up. And the accommodation/hotel is 50 km away from the stadium where we are schedule to play.
Less hassle, so I guess, I'll work on my back up and enjoy the autumn weather....

global warming!?!?!?

It has been really hot in Mimasaka for this month, but looks like it is returning to the normal temperature and weather. I was really thinking of Global Warming, because until today cities in Japan were rewriting many record high for September or consecutive days of over 90's or 30's degrees.
Today was much, much cooler and it was very comfortable. Sun still got the heat when he peaked his sunny face from clouds, but thanks to the wind, today felt like autumn.
I have been living in various parts in Japan for the last 5 years, but I don't recall being this hot in September. I spoke to the locals and they all said this year was unusually hot.
By the way, Japan does not have day light savings so day is getting shorter and shorter.

grape hunting??

I went to grape vine farm with local school, Aida Elementary 3rd grade, and got me some grapes!! they were delicious!!

I'm so lucky to be a teacher's assistant!!

By the way, Okayama is one of the biggest producer of grapes in Japan.

Here are the pics.

The hat I got on is the elementary school hat. Cool, eh?

real to the game

Got a good advice and something I new for a long time. That is "Keep the training real to the game." I thought I was doing that, but apparently, I wasn't close to the game.
my problem was I wasn't kicking the ball hard enough - like shooting the ball.
I guess, I was kicking the ball so that the back up can catch it or dive and catch the ball.
So back to my drawing board and work on to keep the training real to the game....

World Cup

So Japan did not make the Quarter final in the Women's World Cup.... Bummer because they played their hearts out and still couldn't progressed. England game was the deciding factor.
The girls have returned to Japan and taking 7 days off. They sure need the break.
I am very proud of them!!!

Score doesn't indicate a rout

We beat the Door mat team of Japan Renaissance Kumamoto 8-1. I actually asked our goalie what would be the final score. She said 12-0 to which I replied 9-1. I just had a feeling we're gonna get score from some weird situation and nobody would be prepared for it.
Our Head coach was going to be late for our pre-game meeting due to her commitments, but the message told by our assistant coach was, "Show the class." Rather than showing off fancy skills and difficult plays, play simple and to the point which is go attack the goal with minimum effort. Rather than possessing the ball around and dribbling around, try to make things complicated, make the decision quickly and move the ball toward the goal.
And the game started fairly good for us. Immediately, we attacked the left flank with quick pass twice, but we were let down by the finishing touch (1v1 with goalie and we hit a week shot AT her....)
After the first 10 minutes of pressure the soak it up will and we looked like we're in for a long first half.... Only to be rescued by a lucky cross that found one of our players at the end of the cross. I wish I could write goals then came in like a flood, but it took another 10 minutes and this on was from corner kick. And it started raining and things went wet.... And that was it for the first half.
Kumamoto was here for a moral victory and it looked as they were going to get that. They were "Genki" Japanese for Energizer Bunny, and ran and tackled with purpose. And they were going to get rewarded on second half.
I didn't get in on the half time talk as I warmed up our back up. I felt like there would be a small, small chance that she could play, so was on the field working with her. Mind you we only had three players for subs, and one is goalie, so go figure on our depth..... Second half started well, but we couldn't find the back of the net, and first goal of second half came from set piece on the 20th minute. They scored!!! Our goalie said that the ball was out when they kicked but still no excuse, ball was found its way to the far post after contesting the ball in the middle only to be picked up by Kumamoto player who took a shot which hit the cross bar only to land in front of the goal with another opponent by herself. There was no Belle players to be found as they were rushing out of the goal mouth. she only had to volley softly to the goal as she tapped it in uncontested. So there you go, a weird situation for them to score.
I guess that finally woke our players up and we scored 6 goal to make it 8-1. One short of my prediction. Our head coach has been talking to our player that each one should score at least a goal. The score doesn't show that all 11 scored and we allowed them a moral victory!!! They are second division door mat team and you cannot possibly allow them to score!!
So our Cup games are over as we won't progress so next week will be just training.....
Just for the information, I'm not sure Iowa losing to lowly Iowa State and Spurs losing another heart breaker to Arse-nal was some kind of indication that we were gonna struggle..... I'm not so sure.
FYI my favorite football team is IOWA and Tottenham Hotspur
Come on you Spurs!! gotta win the derby!!

Field Day and practice

As I have mentioned before, I go to elementary school and be a teacher's assistant. And second trimester (September to December) began with schools getting ready for Field Day. Field Day in Japan is Not like the one in US, where it is hosted on like last few days of school year. Instead it is hosted at the end of September with all the pageantry. The opening ceremony to all kinds of races and even presentation of cheer leading (not the kind of US cheering) and dance by each grades. And they practice their dance, their cheering and even marching! I grew up in Japan and in that environment, so the practice just brings me back all the memories; all the fun and the scolding by the teachers....
Each schools will host its Field Day on 23rd. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend because, I have soccer......

2 world cups

Just to mention there are many events that put World Cup to its title, but for me there are two sports that shares its same birth, but separated after few years and now they have grown into two separate sports. Football (soccer) and Rugby.
Women's World Cup Final is played in China and Rugby World Cup is played in France. Both has USA and Japan participating in each Finals.
From working with rugby, I know few guys that are playing for Japan, so I am keeping an eye on how they will do. I know a good friend, actually he is more like a Mentor to me is an assistant to South Africa, the Boks, so I also want him and his team to do well.
As for the current record in the world cup, Japan and USA has no win in the Rugby, and Soccer both teams drew their first game. What a Coincidence, eh?

crashed out

We lost to our closest rival INAC 3-0 A comprehensive lost that took us out of the Cup Semi. Now we have one more game against Kumamoto, a door mat team of Japan.
Another lost which again 3-0 was the final score, but what was worst was our first half display. Needing victory to have any chance of advancing, we allowed them to score less than a minute into the game. Poor clearance allowed them to be 1 on 1 with our keeper who had little chance of helping teammate out.
Second goal came again from poor clearance and this time the INAC player beat out two of our player before slotting the decisive blow. Just when INAC needed second goal to assure themselves that they are in control of the game.
But when looking at possession of ball, we had the advantage, and so did the number of corner kicks. However, when it came to finishing, they were much lethal than us. Then came the third goal and the game was over. I wouldn't say the rout was on, because all of their goal came from counter attack and we did a poor job of defending. Loose ball was won by them and they quickly passed it on to forward. They were hungry for the goal and the game. The ball was knocked into a space - loose ball situation and they quickly snatched the ball and attacked toward the goal, and she was given a space which she took and took a shot. Our goalie, U-19, had little chance and the ball was back into the net.
Poor first half doomed us and we did better, and scored a consolation goal at the end of the game, but that was it.
The day belonged to INAC and we are now officially out of the Cup. We have one more group phase game, but it is a meaningless game.
It is now up to players to decide whether this game is going to be a meaningless win or something productive and something that will lead us to better second half of the season when league matches resume in October.

Must win Game

So this week's training is over and we have a game tomorrow. A must win game for the league cup's group stage. Win this game and we'll have a life line, lose then game after this becomes insignificant.
As for this week's training, we have tried something new and for that, we scrimmaged high school boys. We looked okay. Lots to work on and there will be risk for trying, but our head coach puts it "how we play this game could predict how we will play when our National team players return." We are short on players and that is our situation we can't control. Depth is our weakest link and we are trying to see if others can play other position, if something happen.

For the Goalie training, I would say it was okay. I was able to do drills of my choice did okay with my skills. Tomorrow, do what we have to do in order to perform well and I need to be on top of the things so that the players can concentrate on game.

cavity....

I'm very disappointed that I have not only one cavity, but grand total of 3. Luckily, they are very small and it won't take much out of my money, but I have THREE!!!!!?????
The dentist was very kind to show me the small cavity I had on my bottom right hand side. He said it's the 5th one. not sure what that means, but when he pointed out my cavity, he showed me there was a small hole and discoloration; you could understand where it was.
Quite a shocker for me as I have been proud of my teeth.
I haven't gone to a dentist in like year and a half, and perhaps, that was the downfall.
To you all, just a reminder, make sure go to the dentist semi-annually. And while I'm at it, I might as go to see doctor and see if my body is okay.
I get to see him again next Tuesday!! yipppeeee.......

Bitter pill

We lost our first game back from Summer Break, 3-0. The opposition looked very hungry for win and they deserve the win. As I have mentioned before, our starting GK is in China getting ready for the Women's World Cup. So we brought in U-19 GK who is specially designated from JFA to play for our team. It's a bummer for our back up, but she doesn't have the trust of the team, so.... This team is playing for win and belong to the top division of Japanese Women's Football League. Win is priority.

I had one week in August to work with U-19 girl before, so the week's training leading up to the game went well. She needs to relax, but that will solve itself with time. It's a bummer for her to allow 3 balls pass by her. As a GK coach, I have to be objective and critique her, but if I were a fan, I'd say, she did well for her debut. 1st goal, if our defender's angle of pursuit was better, she wouldn't have been blown away and allowing her to penetrate into the box. 2nd goal, if our defender were alert and make sure you defend goal side, then they wouldn't get behind our defense line and again penetrate into box. both goal came after deflection (1st by GK, 2nd by DF) and if others did their job by tracking down or simply hustle back, goals could have, perhaps, saved. 3rd one was questionable call - offside, as the assistant ref all day did not look like she new what the hell she was doing. They beat the trap and 1 on 1 with GK and placed the ball calmly into the ol' onion bag.
We could have scored, too, but lost our nerve and hit the post. I don't quite understand one thing is that, our players train against Numero Una of Japanese GK, so they should able to think, " hey, it's not her, so I have better chance of scoring!" better confidence to attack. Oh well.....

So now we're are in a do or die situation. Must win situation and need others help. Should be interesting how we bounce back. At the moment, I don't think we have a leader.... I hope they prove me wrong.

season resumes

Tomorrow, our soccer season will resume after summer break. We had one week off and rest of the time was spent on working the basic individual tactics; 1v1, 2v2. Working on these drills also work on your fitness.
We will be playing with out our two world cup participants, but we should do fine.
The season resume with Nadeshiko Cup, a league cup, without our world cup players. There is a group stage (4 groups) and winner of each group will play semi-final and winners will play the final.
Looking forward to it!!

Confidence

Struggling at the moment. I am improving but slow. Gotta keep working....
Keep it simple and build up momentum. I got a new kits to assist me in coming up with drills.
And watch more games!!

Winning the region, but....

So we won our region, Chugoku, by winning all 4 games. However, we struggled against opponents of "have beens," and young players (high school and even Jr. high girls!!). Our head coach and assistant coach was not happy at all. I can understand their feeling. We were too confident and too cocky. No respect to the opponents at all. And when things did not go our way, instead of being composed, we rushed and panicked. We even had a player suspended for getting two yellow card (separate games) and a red card (two yellow in one game)!! We had no class.....
As for me, it was a wonderful experience to be part of the team and go through the schedule. It was very unique. In one pre-game, we weren't allow to use balls to warm up!
Luckily, I had an assistant, sort or, partner of goalie coach. He had experience playing in these type of games, so he was able to help me and the team to get ready. He was very professional the way he coached and conducted himself, and gave me lots of tips here and there. I only wished that I prepared more.

Good learning experience.

Now onto the real tournament in Akita come October.

one more game

We beat Hiroshima and Tottori to almost rapped up our regional Championship, thus allow us to play in the Big tourney in Akita Prefecture October. Now if we beat Yamaguchi then we're in.
Hiroshima was the only team that could challenge us and they gave their all. We looked sloppy at times and played like we deserved respect and feared. But when you play sloppy for too long, it only gives other team confidence that you can compete, and last 20 minutes were just nightmare. Couldn't control the ball, pass the ball, or retain possession of the ball. And so all we did was kick the ball. WE were by far the better team, yet at the end of the day, we were lucky to get a win. We were great for 1st 20 minutes, rest were just ordinary.
Second game against far lesser opponent Tottori was just boring, period. Even i was yawning. Our Head coach gave a very stern lecture to the players, but we actually struggled. We had rested some of the key players, but we had to put them into the game in order to secure a win. Yes, we were only up 1-0 and could have won it with that score line, but our head coach had none of it.
When you are the top dawg, everyone comes at you at 100 mph. Gotta be ready no matter what. Give the proper respect, but still gotta have that instinct to finish the game and not drop to their level, or go after individual glory by shooting too much or ball hogging for too long.
It only gives opponents chance to get back into the game and possibly stun your team in the end.....

4 games in 3 days

We just finished our first of 4 games. Won comfortably 8-0 Tomorrow we face Hiroshima, who will be our toughest opponent. Their forward is a Nadeshiko leaguer with good speed. They tend to attack wide and against Tottori, they used left flank often. Fairly balanced team. After the game, we have another in the afternoon. So one in the morning around 10am and second game is at 3pm. Heat wave has hit the western Japan so it is really hot. Today was up in 35 Celsius degrees, which roughly translate to about 95 degrees. There is a chance of thunderstorm, but I doubt it. Would be nice for a rain, because it will cool down the muggy Hiroshima. Can't worry about the weather or opponents. Prepare for everything and be ready for the worst situation. And come back victorious.

Hiroshima

So here we are in Hiroshima getting ready for the Qualifying rounds for National Sports Festival.
Took a bus and made it in about 3 hours.
We trained in the morning and had a meeting in the evening after the meal. Training and the meeting was regarding Set Pieces and for me it was very good and informative. We also have a spot coach, a goalkeeper coach, for the duration. He is younger than me, but he is playing for a semi-pro team - 4th division team in Japan. He is also Goalkeeper coach for his team. He has such a way with word that I am learning a lot about coaching on the run. He obviously has more experience thus he can communicate better with the player. Because he is playing, he can also talk about the obvious things such as order in which how to defend a corner kick. It would take me a second and go over on a paper, perhaps rehearse the meeting, but he doesn't have to. That is definitely to his advantage. I can only can admire his way of communicating with the players. I am sure I can do that in a long run. In a way, I am going over about coaching and he is allowing me to catch up, and letting me know that what I know is right.
You can see confidence oozing out from his skin. I can only admire that. One day I would be like that.

sorry for the grammer....

Mini Kokutai

It has been really hot in the hills of Okayama lately, and today was no exception. And today, we trained on Astro turf field, at 3pm hottest time of the day, so yeah, it was quite a workout.
We have a Mini Kokutai, National Tournament Regional Qualifier in Hiroshima, next weekend. Today was intra-squad trial match. I officiated. My goodness, the girls can dish out some words to me!! But I just kept going on.
Last few days of GK training, our back up has been doing really well. So I had fairly good expectation of today's training. However, I was somewhat disappointed. You could put some blame on me, as I could have done better warm up. She is not so good in 1 v 1 situation such as break away. I should have spent little more time on that instead of working on crosses.
So, I learned a good lesson, which I knew from my rugby days. And I was able to experience it first hand so I know I won't do the mistake again.
That is, spend little more time on things you've worked on for a week in the warm up. The player has been working on that so it gives her target for the game.
next week.

Keio University

Keio (K-O) University player came and joined us in training for three days. Strong right foot for a girl. Keio's head coach is a friend of my from my days in Matsuyama. He was very good player and in a way, I looked up to him as a soccer player. Unfortunately, I never got to play along side with him, but when I was in Tokyo, I helped him with coaching goalie, and got to play on his Futsal team. We have a good friendship.
He brought a player who he thinks could play at the next level. She brought with her an injury on her foot and she wasn't able to train well, but she did have a solid kick on both of her feet. can kick it for a distance.
Best of luck to her as she goes back to her team and I hope she can share the experience with others.
And best of luck to Keio for their up coming fall season.

Kokutai - National Sports Festival

Kokutai is similar to ODP, but the difference is that there are three divisions, Youth - Boys, Adults - Men and Women's.
We trained with local players who attends college and we did some selection training and trial match. Unfortunately, our national goalie and the U-19 has National duties so they won't be able to participate, but we have two goalies, our lovely, back up and the college player. We had decent trainings and we are meeting this weekend again to get ready for the Kokutai Qualifier - Chugoku region.
We should progress to the National Festival, but we shall see. Chugoku region consists of five prefecture; Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane, and Tottori.
Since our players are amateurs, they can play.
Wish us good luck.

U-19

Japan's Under 19 Goalkeeper is training with US for the week. She's tall, 5-6ish compared with our other goalies. They're 5-4 and 5-5.
She has been bit nervous for few days, but I think she is starting to being herself more.
She has done well in training, too. For me, she is very fluid and her reaction time is very good. I have very easy time throwing balls to her in session. I wish I could kick the ball better and to the area I want to kick.

Must keep improving....

departure

Well, one of the veteran has decided to leave the team. Best of luck to her, but she left the team in somewhat disappointing matter. She has been part of the team since the inception and obvious leader.
With her age past 30 and her strength obviously and visibly dropping, she worked hard to find her playing time on the team. Without her, the team average age drop to about 22.
She wasn't getting stronger, and team was going younger, her playing time diminished considerably. But with her experience, she was still valuable player and made some good impact when she came on. Yet, she didn't try to work on the area, which the head coach told her in order to get more playing time.
So she in a way abused her seniority (big thing in Japan) to intimidate and manipulate to get her way. As the season went on and she wasn't getting her way, she became somewhat critical of our management. And finally after the season was suspended for Summer and World Cup, she told the team that she was leaving and transferring.
It's her life so best of her luck, but very unprofessional in my view. She has a vast experience and knowledge of the game, and the history of the team. She's been here since the beginning!! So she could just work it out until the end of the season and show a true professionalism by working hard and show good example to the younger player... but what she did was contradict what she has been saying and doing. I'm sure the players will be thinking differently, but that's the norm. I'm sure the head coach will talk to the team when the time is right.
I was personally looking forward to working with her, because she had a strong relationship with our goalie. I wanted to improve myself and rapport with goalie and I saw her as someone I can talk to and get pointers. We had a chat once and this departure really contradict with what she told me. So I am disappointed with her action. I think she made the mistake, and with her age, I am not so sure if there will be a team that will take her and another thing is I am not sure if she will find a decent paying job that would accommodate her soccer career. Unless her family is loaded....

life goes on.

meeting with various minds

So, I've been in Tokyo for few days and I visited many friends and coaches. It was refreshing, stimulating, and interesting. my old club of Suntory was fun as I chatted away with the boys and they allowed me to have dinner at their club house. Everybody looks bigger and fitter, while they told me that I need to gain more weight.
Had a very good conversation with Coach Sawamura, current Kawasaki Frontale youth goalkeeper coach and also assistant goalkeeper coach with the Top team. Mind you last year, he was with the women's National team and Urawa Reds. Although I did not get to see his actual training because today was Saturday and his youth side was playing trial match with a local high school team. Before, during, and after the game we talked and from what I took, we had a similar view and that, at the end of the whole thing, I need to own up to myself and work just harder and be more assertive.
When I say assertive, I don't mean in a athority kind of way, but be engaged in communication and make sure that I listen to her. When I do talk to her, I need to be fully prepared. from training drills to game time activities. Show confidence that I can do it!
This will be the challenge for me for the next two months.
I watched soccer Japan vs. Korea, Asian Cup Third place match, at two different friends house. One was soccer coach and his friends house for dinner and first half of game, then I moved to my friend from UTM who helped me get the translating job at Suntory for overnight stay.
Unfortunately, Japan lost in the shoot out, I picked up stuff watching the game, and as a fan, I am very optimistic of the team. I wish the team all the best.

back in Tokyo, Japan

Back from visiting my old man and mum, and with hardly no effect of Jet lag.
it was nice to see them and was able to catch up with my old friend, good drinking friend while in Fuchu, where I am at the moment.
I am visiting Rugby friends and coached a goalie for my friends team at an university. Always nice to help out and able to catch up with your mates. I miss them and we had some good laugh today. But the weather is so muggy!!
as for coaching, we just worked on the basics. she played basketball, so her reading of where the ball could land, or catch the ball was good. we worked mainly on her diving and rolling down, I reckon in US and UK they call it collapse dive. She is smart and active girl, and I think she will do well.
Tomorrow I will be tagging along with Kawasaki Frontale youth team. Their Goalkeeper coach was National Team Goalkeeper Coach last year with women's. Yes, he coached our goalie..... I am hoping to pick some coaching pointer and good advice. Try to learn as much as possible!!!
I know I can become better everyday, by trying and having a positive attitude!!

against Reds ladies and week off

We were taught a lesson by Urawa Reds Ladies 3-1. We knew they were going to go all out to get the goal in first 15minutes. We had to defend and soak up the pressure if we were to earn a point or dream of winning a game.
That idea was shattered in 5th minutes after corner kick and we failed to clear the ball out. They served an inswinging ball from the right flank and headed the ball before we did, thus 1-0.
They scored again, 15 minutes later from left flank this time not marking up well and letting the ball go over our heads - Lady Reds pounced on it and smashed it pass our helpless GK... 2-1
We caught them napping on a Counter Attack and scored to keep ourselves in the game 2-1 only to give them a cheap foul in the box - resulting in PK
End of the First half 3-1 to the Reds......
Second half was a clinic on how to keep possession of ball and how and when to attack. We couldn't move the ball when we had the ball. It was very painful to watch. As I am writing this, it is bloody painful to write about it.
So we got a week off in a bad way, but I'm at the moment in Portland OR. Nice and sunny. Good to see my parents and got my international Driver's permit. Now I can drive in Japan!!
I also visited Hawaii because I took a Honolulu connection. I was in Hawaii for 12hous!! yes, 12 hrs lay over!!
So I rented a car and cruised the island!! it was beautiful and wonderful! Mahalo and Aloha!!

Tomorrow I return to Japan... What a short stay.... I was able to catch up with my friends via phone. Good conversation it was.
PS for some reason, this computer, my mom's, won't let me correct my spelling. so Please be patient....

Tsuyu - rainy season/monsoon

This Monday the weekend forecast was sunny. We play away game at Urawa, which is Tokyo area. Well, Japan is in the wet, rainy season. Tsuyu, is what the Japanese call the rainy season. And we just had Typhoon pass by and dropped heaps of rain. I figure the rainy season was over, but the weather people has yet to call the end of Tsuyu and sure enough, weather for this weekend has changed to rain..... And today we had to train in the Gym because, 30 minutes before training, buckets were flipped and next two hours rained and rained....
Training went okay, but you could tell everyone wanted to train outside.... If it were yesterday, more likely we would have trained outside for short and sharp. Oh, well.

As for my other personal life, Japanese school is out for Summer!!! And you'd think I don't have to go to school, but no.... you have to go and do something...... lots of chore I guess....

new shade

Thanks to our corporate sponsor - Kinyodo, a part jewelry, part eye glass shop that decided to sponsor us.
So, now I have a new pair of sunglasses! Oakley it is!! nice shade, mate. It sure is!!

pic to follow

Motivation

Asia Football Cup is going on at the moment and Japan has been favorite to win the Cup. If they do win, it will be their fourth and third successive title. Quite amazing when you look at Japanese soccer history, but that is something to write on different occasion.
Current Manager Ivica Osim, a Sarajevo Native has been coaching in Japan for over 5 years. He has transformed a lowly, JEF United Chiba-Ichihara to Title contenders - They have won the Nabisco Cup Two successive years, but not this year, they were ousted in the group stage of the League Cup. Now he is the Manager of the National team, second year, and they are through the group stage of the Asian Cup - top of their Group.
He is famous for his quotes, not because they are good and valuable, but also with A LOT of Sarcasm. For Japanese it is bit too hard to grasp but I had a chance to hear his interview live when he was still a manager at JEF and to me, he is just too smart for some of the journalist here. He answers questions with questions, when the team wins, he bemoans about lack of something, and when loses, he praise certain things. Of course, he do get critical.
One comment I have been curious and he's been saying this quite a lot and it is about "motivation." Motivation of opponent, looking to dethrone Japan, Motivation of home team. Japan have to match its motivation to opponents' level. Heaps of Mental aspect of the game. Kind of reminds me of JoePa of Penn State. Humble, ready to praise opponents.
In listening to Ivica, I think of our team and our lost to Tasaki. You could say that Tasaki's Motivation to win and continue their winning streak alive, compared to ours.
I heard before that in a close game little things counts; skills and tactics, but what kind of mentality you have can be decisive. I guess, we weren't committed to win the game. We were rather happy to see the draw.
It would be interesting what motivates our players for Urawa Lady Reds.

shouda woulda coulda

1-2 to Tasaki.
About 3 minutes left in the game and they score to end up winning.
Middle of the second half, I had a bad feeling but it went away, and as I was thinking, "it's going to be a draw," they scored and we end up losing.
There was no ill effect of Typhoon Man-yi, as it was sunny and windy. The field was wet but surprisingly firm. And I knew it was going to be muggy on the pitch. All the moist coming up from the ground was going to suck the energy out of the players and that was true. Second half was hot and muggy and both teams looked tired.
Both teams were riding winning streak of their own and the goal from Tasaki was team effort as they broke down our right side flank in and served a lovely ball in the box and they converted as a player who was on the other side ran on to the cross and put it pass our goalie near post.
But we scored from an individual brilliance who has a 4 game scoring streak, by our National Team Member, Aya Miyama. As we labored to get into their left corner of the opposition's 18 (Penalty area), she received a pass, put the ball to her right foot as she looked up and strike a perfect shot to the far post to even the score in the first half.
Second half we had three clear chance to score and get ahead of the game, but we couldn't. We should have scored, but we didn't. Second half was bit of long ball, and both teams were tired and both team would have a point, but it wasn't to be. I guess it showed us why they are the top of the league with no loss, no draw. Technically and tactically, Belle hold its own and you can say we're even, but mentality was the difference I suppose.
We were going to be happy with a point for drawing the game, and they weren't.
They carry on the momentum they have been building on and we have to regroup and get the ball going for ourselves.

Playing soccer in Typhoon?

Typhoon Man-yi, in Japan they call it by the number, this one is #4 is about to hit Japan.
And there is a potential that the game could be canned. Last few days, we've been training in the rain. Because we play in the rain!! But, we don't know if we'll play under that condition.
It should be interesting if we play. We will play against the table topping Tasaki http://www.tasaki.co.jp/what/perule1.html The company is a Pearl jewelry company and they haven't lost a game since the season began in late April.
http://www.tasaki.co.jp/english/top/index.html Their English website do not show any soccer stuff, but for you ladies and guys who are thinking of buying, have a look.
We lost to them last time in the rain, and we were leading 1-0 in the first half, only to be equalized at the injury time of first half. Then on second half, as the rain became heavy, so did their attack and conceded two goals and finished 1-3.
Tomorrow's game will be same condition, with add wind to it. It could get postponed, and if it does get washed out, we should be playing the next day. Monday is a national holiday.
I personally would love to get it done and with a win. we are riding on 4 game winning streak.
wish us good luck!!

Not having a Darn Computer

So, I didn't have my computer for few days. Actually, the place I went for my clinic did not have Internet. Actually they did but it was old fashion, dial-up, and the coaching clinic went on late in the night and studying for test and making drills for the on-field activities. Yes, after the seminar, there was get-together-session among the coaches - few alcohol was brought in. But me being the early bird, I missed one session so I can get a good sleep because I had to give two on field activities. And I didn't bring a bloody camera!!
Three day course was very good for me, it was more of a review, but with more clear defined ways of coaching Goalkeeper; a proper ways and terms in coaching.
I wanted to post it asap, but I had to lend my computer for something regarding connecting (long story so I won't go into details), so here I am today able to post it.
Tomorrow I'll mention about our team.

Today, one of my English friend is going back to US. New one should be here in September.....

Going to a clinic

So, Tomorrow, I am heading to J-Village. If you wondering what is J-Village and what is it, it is a Japan's soccer residency place and it is located on Prefecture of Fukushima. http://www.j-village.jp/english/index.html
And finally a site with English, too.
There will be Goalkeeping Clinic from 6th to 8th of July. This is C-level, which is the first one to take. Then there will be B and A to follow.
I am looking forward to the clinic and learn more about soccer and meet interesting people who loves soccer. I am bit disappointed that I will miss our game and training, but I got the feeling it might do some good.

Winning ugly - 3 straight

So the game against INAC was about who had the confidence in their ability and strong mind in tough situation. Final score was 3-2 to the Belle. We came back from 2 goal deficit. INAC is a team who like to play direct style of play; long ball behind the defense line with speedster and a Brazilian who can hold the ball so other players can run on to the ball.
We wanted to play possession game, but we showed lack of confidence in that area where we should feel confident. Seriously, we do have the skills to do, but for some reason, we lack the confidence and either we give up the ball easily, or end up kicking the ball to the forwards.
And first half, the confidence was the difference. INAC, at the start of the game sitting on second place, and they confidently, soaked our attack and in return scored from 2 decent counter attack. We sure looked lost out there, and I don't want to use the excuse of using J-league stadium that had a very small warm up area with tight rules for usage of the game pitch. Field was bit wet and grass was long, but INAC was in the same situation. They were using the stadium for the first time, too. Confidence in themselves was the difference until, we were able to up goal back from long range by our National team player, Aya Miyama. That gave us a chance and tide was slowly turning to our favor. Second half we ditched our possession style and reverted to long ball tactic. Our head coach Does Not like this, but to get the win, you have to do whatever to make the change to give the team chance to win.
And it paid off. 2 goals, one from good counter attack and another by their mistake gave us necessary 3 points - Maximum points. Third goal was scored by our newly added player, Cynthia, the Brazilian. I guess you can say, Japanese players do not like foreign player and pressure put on by Cynthia was enough to make that mistake and she duly capitalized on that mistake.
Game was honestly, boring, lots of kicking and chasing, but we were able to get the important "W" in the win column. Great learning experience for me, and I hope the girls will keep working hard and gain confidence that they can do it and win games. It must be hard to swallow this loss for INAC, as most of the players were lying on the pitch after the game.

We'll take the win, no matter how ugly it is. Now let's aim for 4 straight.

Second time around

There are 8 teams in the league and for this season's format we play the same team 3 times; home and away, and depend on the team, home, away, or neutral.
we finished the first 7 games and now we enter the second 7 games. We are playing the INAC (http://www.inac.or.jp/), the team we opened the season. We lost 1-0 to a crappy goal.
Our lost also was, I reckon, caused by players' lack of trust. Coaches decided to revert back to 4-4-2 formation from 3-5-2. We did not have enough time to get things right and thus, INAC exploited that area of defense and midfield where indecision became fatal in that game.
Since that game we've played 6 more and we've done well. Last two game we scored total of 8 goals and only conceded 1. We are also looking to extend our winning streak to 3! Let's hope we can do it. They are missing key players (Brazilians) that are attackers so if we contain rest of their forwards, we should have a chance to win. It's away game, so we aim to get a point, which is standard tactic in playing away games. However, we lost to them, so I want to see a "W."
We are also playing at one of the J-league stadium, Home Stadium, in Kobe http://www.wingstadium.jp/syoukai/syoukai.html
It's my second time there. Once with rugby and now with soccer.

LEARNING

I am writing today about learning curve. I feel like not learning well. But friend of mine told me that keep trying, because that's when you really you are learning and once you get it, then you can move one to new things. But remember to go back every once in a while to keep yourself sharp.
Next week I will be going to Coaching Clinic for GK coach, so I'm looking forward to it.
Every Thursday, we have a spot GK coach come and help me and our players. He comes on a volunteering base and he's been coming to the team even before I interviewed for the team. He is very smart, has a good knowledge, and experiences. And he is only 25!! He is still playing, but he was coached by former National team GK coach, so I learn a lot from him. He and I had good chat the other day, and told me that I may be thinking too hard. So, I try but when National goalie on the team, it's bit hard when you don't have the experience.
Well, back to learning. I think I am getting the kicking skill back to where I used to have. I reckon, that is part of learning. Today, we worked on set pieces or set plays, however you want to call it. I was able to kick the ball the coaches wanted. So I was pleased. Just gotta keep working, eh?

two in a roll!!

First home game in more than about month, we beat Iga Kunoich (lady Ninjas) 4-0. Judging from the score line, we soundly beat them, but actually, especially in first half, we barely hold on to a 1-0 lead. Defensively, we looked shaky. Opponent, I reckon, had more possession of the ball, looked more fluid in attack. It's not like we were playing counter attack soccer, but we just kept kicking the ball. Iga had a chance to level the score at the end of first half, but we were helped by a poor finish. Second half started similar, but we still looked shaky, yet, we scored just about an hour into the game, we added another. But, still looked shaky.... Iga had players who can attack by dribbling and that caused us problem. We rolled a dice and insert Cynthia, the Brazilian and we began to posses better at the attacking half. goals came from Cynthia holding the ball and distributing. Unlike the Japanese soccer of one or two touch soccer, she dribbled, hold the ball and gave us time of other players to move forward. Risk of language barrier or fitness or understanding of our game plan were worth it. It will be interesting once she gets used to our style of soccer, language, and fitness. After the game, I went out and had few to drink. Winning, especially, blanking the opponent helps us and me easy to breath. I had my fun. Now, to the next week's opponents. Got to get ready.

U-19 joining the team

So now we added a Brazilian, we now added U-19 Japan National Team member, a goalie, to our roster. She is actually playing for a university, but through the National Soccer Association, she became designated player. Since her college is close by, she will come and train with us when ever possible. More likely, she will play if our National Team Goalie gets hurt. How Awesome is this!! Not only I have to train the Best Goalie in Japan, now I get to work with or take care of U-19 girl.... More pressure on me!! Yikes!!! I hope she's not a starter on the U-19....
And this challenge I gladly accept and try to do my best. She's tall and she's quite good. Mate, she got potential!! I can't wait to work with other categories' goalie!!
I need to keep working!!!

First training

So our Cynthia, the Brazilian girl, had her first training with the team. She stood out not just because she looks different, but also her skill. Different style of soccer, so she stood out. She played for Brazil National team for certain age category, so it would be interesting to see how she will adapt to our style. TV camera was here, and she told the reporters that she will try to do what she is told to do.
I am a GK coach, but I will do my best to learn Portuguese and try to teach her Japanese. I'm sure the players will do that, too.

Brazilian!!

We have a new player!! and she's from Sao Paulo, Brazil!
She has played at University games for Brazil! and she's a Forward! We currently lost two forwards to ACL injuries.
Boa Sorte! Good luck to her stay in Japan!! I hope she'll adjust quickly and adopt to our style of soccer!!

First real away game trip

Traveling to Niigata for the first real away match and it was a treat. First we used bus to reach at the Osaka International, not the one on the ocean. Then we flew to Niigata. We left at 6ish in the afternoon and the view from the sky was spectacular. The sun was setting down and the color of the sky and the mountain ranges that still had snow on the top was a good contrast, to me. And I think for the first time I saw the sun set from the plane. Slowly setting into Sea of Japan, like it didn't want to say good-bye, but when the sun hit the ocean, it disappeared rather quickly, like it changed its mind and decided to go the other side of earth to say hello.
We trained that morning and for the training I thought hard to figure what would be a good drill for our National Goalie. The back up jammed her ring finger – left hand, pretty badly so we sent her to coach little kids. Saturdays we have coaching clinics for little ones. She was in charge was….. I don’t know. I guess it went well.
Back to the training, with trainings geared toward distribution – passing, but she wanted to do her drills so, instead of mine, the training was hers.
It turned out that we had similar ideas of what to do for that drills. Although her drills was more basic oriented, I was relieved that she wanted to do passing. I was going to ask her if she wanted to catch some shots and crosses but we did that plenty of that day before, so she already had in her mind that she was going to just work on her passing skills and simple basic catching drills. I’d have to say it went well.
As for game at Niigata, we won!! We came back from goal down to score 4!! They were very scrappy team, as using our head coach’s word, “typical promoted team’s style.” I hear that term quite often in reading soccer news for European teams. I was glad to witness the “typical” game.
The game started rather hectic with ball just being kicked up and down the field. Old fashion “Push and Run” and Niigata just being physical at the contact,; physically just touch. Sure enough, our players lose our purpose and play to their style. Had we had good skills we could have done better, I reckon, and I’m sure for a soccer fan, it became boring after both sides settled down, but still kicking the ball. We seemed to possess better portion of the game, but we get caught with Counter Attack from our own miss passing. And sure enough, just as the first half was winding down, they clear the ball and a lucky bounce, Niigata’s lone striker run through our defense and scores….. We have been attacking well, but we don’t get that break, until second half. Yeah, the locker room during the half time was pretty dark.
We get two breaks: penalty kick which our National team midfield converts, and second book-able offense to their #6, which she is ejected from the game. With 30 minutes left in the game with one player down for Niigata, we some how able to put 3 past their goalie. Niigata was determined and physical team. Yet, we rushed into thinking “we can score more!!” When we should have been thinking, “let’s move the ball, get them tired and take one chance at a time, one goal at a time.”
End result is good, but detail of the game leaves us with much to desire. Is this a right way to phrase it?
Beer after a win is always good, though. Travel back to hills of Mimasaka, country was alright. Win makes everything pretty sweet.

And here are some of the pics from the travel.

During my weekdays in the mornings I visit school and be TA. Teachers' Assistant. So far, I assist in PE class, but lately, I've been involved with other class activities such as computer class, and just the other day participated in "Taue" a rice field in planting of rice. After that we ate "omusubi" a packed rice ballSo here are some of the pics Enjoy.

Old gentelman teaching kids how to hold and plant rice

Kids and I are in the process of planting rice

We will harvest them in Autumn!!

we plant them in line. very organized, eh?

Becareful!! A kid get stuck in the mud and takes a fall in the muddy water

waiting in line to wash hands after the planting . Striking a pose.

After the labor, time for grubs. it was great!!!

busy week

Tuesdays are our day offs. Today I am going to visit one of our players who tore ACL. She had her knee operated last week. And looks like she'll be in hospital for about 3 week. 3 weeks???? Yes, in Japan, we have a universal health coverage, though, I'm not sure if it means anything, but I guess this is how Japanese do their Medical practice. Have patients stay at the hospital long. I'm sure there is pros and cons of longer stay at the hospital. I hope she is in better spirits.

As for the past week, busy, busy. Started working out more seriously, and this is causing me to sacrifice many fun stuff...... Thus I am taking care of my body more seriously.

Training without our National team Goalie is coming to an end. She'll return tomorrow for our team training and prepare for the game against Niigata this weekend. I hope to learn from her about the things she did at National team training. Welcome back girls!!

Trial match or Scrimmage

Yesterday, we had a game against Takatsuki. Depending on how you call it, some might call it Trial match or Scrimmage. Depending on where you're from. I personally used to call it scrimmage, but Now I call it Trial Match. I like the latter, because, some of the players, this is one of the few chance to showcase what they can do. Coach can then evaluate them and make the team better.
However, with our team, we are bit (nicely put) short on numbers of players so, it wasn't really a trial match, so you could call it Scrimmage for yesterday's game.
We won 4-2 but they didn't have a real Goalkeeper. I mean, they did not have a person who specialize in protecting goal. And the 'keeper can use its hands! So they used their field players to defend the goal. Takatsuki is in Second Division, but watching the game, you couldn't tell. Weather and the field were wet and we benefit the slippery field for couple of goal and their GK, but if it were played with a real keeper and good condition, I'm not sure if we won.
Game theme for defense was not to allow opposition to get in the vital area. In Japan they use the term "vital area" - between defenders (center backs) and midfielders (defensive midfield). it is natural that opponent's Forward will enter the "area" but we wanted to position ourselves so that they can not penetrate that "area" by either pass or by dribble.
Well, they were in that "area" all day and marking was too loose to consider "Marked." And they passed, they dribbled. Their final passing or controlling of the pass under the bad condition helped us recover. Still they managed two goals and one was a cracker, screamer, great goal helped by my keeper out of position. Second goal was indecision by keeper to come off the line. They took advantage of blunder and level the score. But like I wrote earlier, they didn't have a real keeper so we put two shot pass their 'part-timer'
Still lots of work to do with our back up keeper......