Show Of Japanese Volleyball Vitality

THE Tokyo combined private high school girls and boys’ volleyball sides were in town for a two-day friendly playing tour against the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) volleyball trainees at the school’s hall in Bukit Jalil recently.

For the touring group, made up of 12 girls, 17 boys and 11 officials, it also served as the climax to their month-long summer school holiday that ended on Aug 31.

The Japanese (left) and BJSS girls shaking hands before a game.

“We have an all-year round programme for the players selected from the combined private high schools around Tokyo. We also give them exposure by playing them against junior teams from other countries.
“The sports cultural exchange programme also provides our players the opportunity to foster friendship with their foreign counterparts,” said team leader Nakamura Shiro, who is also the boys’ team coach.

Previously, the players from the Tokyo combined private high schools have played against junior teams in Australia, Thailand, Singapore, China and Taiwan.

The visitors emerged at the top of the game on the first day against the BJSS girls and boys’ teams coached by Shaili Sukor and Zulyadi Zakaria as they tamed BJSS girls 3-0 while BJSS boys lost 3-1.

A player from the Tokyo combined private high school girls' team (centre) diving to retrieve a shot as her teammates look on.

The Japanese girls are under the guidance of Kikuma Takashi, whose impeccable credentials include that of producing five women’s players for the Japanese Olympic Games team throughout his coaching career.
Yasuo Tsukioka, a Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) official who was part of the touring group, pointed out that volleyball had a strong following in Japan because a lot of effort was put into introducing the game at grassroots level, especially in schools.

“From my observation here, the Malaysian juniors have the potential to play high quality volleyball provided they put more time into training to improve their game,” added Tsukioka.

The junior players from Japan are aged 17 and 18 and several of them are expected to continue their tertiary education next year.

Tsukioka...a lot of effort is put into introducing volleyball at grassroots level in Japan.

Despite putting on a brave display to stretch the Japanese girls in the first set before losing 23-25 on the second day, the BJSS girls went down in the following four sets (18- 25, 11-25, 20-25, 13-15).
In addition, the Japanese girls complemented their disciplined work rate with plenty of attacking variations.

“Although our girls did not lose out against the opponents in terms of average height, the visitors were much more superior in their physical fitness.

“This was reflected in their speed and power in executing the shots according to their game plan on court,” said Shaili.

In contrast, the BJSS boys won the first three sets (25-22, 27-25, 25-17) to clinch a 3-2 victory. But, they allowed the visitors to wrap up the last two sets by losing 16-25 and 13-15.

“We managed to reverse the outcome of thematch today because our boys capitalised on their height advantage to counter the opponents’ fast game. After sealing the match, we gave our substitutes the opportunity to feature on court,” Shaili added.

Above all, the Japanese students' immaculate ethics won the approval of BJSS vice-principal (sports and administration) Kon Chen Choong.

“They are very well-organised not only in their ability to play. They showed a lot of passion in getting things right by taking every task seriously.

“They encouraged our players to approach the game with a positive attitude,” said Kon.