Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2020-2021

    one of those two OHs for blue has to take over for Sasaki


    Furukawa swings harder than Yoshioka but I don't think she understands Okayama defense


    Set 1 ??–??

    Set 2:

    Blue 25–15 White

    Quote from brahmin

    There is probably some legalese as to the distinction. In the old PDFs there was not a distinction. The retire at will could be a combination of I am not playing but people are better than me and other teams are not interested. Leaving means that you could have fulfilled your contract, as probably all volleyball contracts are year to year in Japan. If you have fulfilled your contract you could leave as a free agent. Not common in Japan or at least announced anyway.

    I found a pdf here that seems to address the "Voluntary Retirement/Leaving/Retire at Will" issues but I can't understand the googlease.

    Quote from sitenoise

    I found a pdf here that seems to address the "Voluntary Retirement/Leaving/Retire at Will" issues but I can't understand the googlease.

    Per the document #9, is a voluntary retired player.

    A voluntary retired player has reached an agreement with parent company or an affiliated company of the team.

    So, if someone from Denso, decided to actually work at Denso, but not play for the Airybees, this would be their type.


    #10, is a player leaving

    Player has left the team and have not signed a contract yet with any other team of the V.League. These players have not asked for a transfer and have not voluntarily retired. They are listed as a retired athlete on the "Retirement/Voluntary Retirement Player List"


    Shinnabe was #10. Mari Horikawa was #9.


    Foreigners are not listed as their paperwork has to come from overseas for a transfer.

    Kurobe AquaFairies are having a Blue-White match on September 20. Probably won't get to see this one but kudos to them anyway.

    Shion Hirayama of the SAGA Springs underwent surgery on her right knee :(


    ■ Injured site Right knee joint

    ■ Examination result Right lateral meniscus injury Complete cure 2 months


    SAGA is the only team I know of that voluntarily posts injury reports occasionally. Thanks SAGA!


    I'd like to know if the surgery was the result of some trauma inflicted or if it was a sustained and nagging issue that finally lead to the surgery. Neither is comforting but if it was the latter it might explain why she didn't play at all in the 2019-2020 season--although SAGA doesn't seem to play rookies until they've sat on the bench a few years--and why she missed the NT wide roster

    Saitama is renting one of the Panasonic Bluebells (9-Ball Champions) from Sept 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021: Hiromi Tagawa. Hiromi was a setter/receiver with the Bluebells, mostly a back row player since the Bluebells have one of the best setters in Japan :)


    She's listed on the Saitama page as Setter.

    Sanae Watanabe:



    I told ya'll she's really right-handed and swings with her left hand because it looks cooler :teach:

    Quote from MyNameIst.

    I thought she'll be back to toyota since sorokaite isn't 100% sure.

    She stands a better chance with Saitama


    Meanwhile, Himeji have introduced some new Brazilian style "squat" uniforms pants skirts :(


    This is my year of trying to learn a little something about the Arenas. Initial investigations revealed something:


    All the matches broadcast last season on VTV had this color flooring (Kartz Kawasaki Hall):



    It's one of the reasons the VTV matches look like over saturated reflected glaring crap.


    Of the many DAZN broadcasts I have looked at so far they all have this floor coloring (Ikenokawa Sakura Arena):




    It's probably just the difference between an "Arena" and a "hall" or "gymnasium". Probably DAZN doesn't want to broadcast from a gym. Which begs the question I really want to know about:


    Do the Arenas and Halls maintain their own camera equipment and personnel and the broadcasters just grab the feed? I've also noted anecdotally that some matches have better camerawork than others. Cuts, pans, closeups, replays, etc.


    They must lay down that Salmon & Green floor ad hoc for some volleyball. What's it made of?


    For example: When the High Schools and Universities play in Ota Ward Gymnasium the whole floor is that basic gymnasium yellow wood color. But then when NEC has a real home game there, it's Salmon & Green.


    I think this is how we can tell real home games from fake home games. Real ones have Salmon & Green and fake ones have glaring yellow and are relegated to VTV broadcast.

    the green and red are basically big patches of floor coverings. Where as the blue courts are actually similar to what would be used by FIVB for events.

    This also may be the difference between the primary tenant and multi use facilities.

    Quote from brahmin

    the green and red are basically big patches of floor coverings. Where as the blue courts are actually similar to what would be used by FIVB for events.

    This also may be the difference between the primary tenant and multi use facilities.

    I found an example of something I was wondering about. This is YMIT Arena in Kusatsu City Shiga Prefecture, a kind of fake Toray Arrows Home. In a Regular Round match between Toray and Saitama that was broadcast on VTV it looks like this:




    Then, four matches in the Final 8 were played there and it looks like this:



    What's up with that?


    Now I have to watch both those matches and judge whether they are using the same cameras and camera people

    Many arenas in Japan have wood floors without lines. in the case of Ota City Central in Tokyo, the movable seats cover lines for outer courts, but are clean for the main arena.


    https://pregamestraining.tokyo…55d1529d804819ca853d15848

    JTEKT has used the complete floor in Karita Wing Arena because there are way too many lines on the “bare floor”.


    https://www.stings-fan.jp/score/9807.html


    Denso has used the complete floor as well in the past in Nishio.
    https://airybees.denso.com/pgallery/190216/

    Supposedly from Sept. 8, Japan will allow long-term foreign residents to return.


    What this means for foreign players is another question. Neriman would probably qualify for this as she's be in Japan for so long (yes leaving after the season, but).


    Did find this about visas for foreign athletes playing in Japan.


    It does appear that players will be allowed in but may have to do testing pre- and post-arrival, and then 14 days isolation.

    Quote from brahmin

    Remember the lower level teams are not fully professional. So as they are regular employees who also happen to play volleyball, they may interact with way more people that you would like because of work, and then throw in some travel for the team. Just not worth the risk for those businesses right now.

    Thought I'd move my response over here as it's a V.League thought


    "regular employees who also happen to play volleyball"


    It's wild for me to get my head around that. It's weird but interesting. I know it's different for the big guns like say Kurogo or Ishikawa. They want to sign with a good team, facilities, trainers, etc., to play volleyball. But for someone like Ranna Shiraiwa, who just transferred to V2 Forest Leaves Kumamoto, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that most of that team's "work" is in the health care industry, and Ranna, who attended Niigata University of Health and Welfare, is probably on a career path of being a health care professional, and also happens to play volleyball.

    A correction to this:

    Quote from sitenoise

    Trivia:

    The Head Coach of this U20 squad, Kiyoshi Abo, who's coached a lot of U20 squads, is now the GM of Himeji, and the U20 Assistant Coach, Kodai Nakaya, who's also assisted a number of U20 squads, and spent the past eight years with NEC, is now Himeji Head Coach.

    Probably just a coincidence that Shiori [Aratani] is now sporting pink :) The future belongs to Himeji

    Kiyoshi Abo, U20 Head Coach is the GM of Himeji. I got that part right, but I conflated these two guys:


    Kodai Nakaya, U20 assistant coach 2014–2018, is now Himeji Head Coach but he was not with NEC the past eight years. He joined Himeji at their beginning as assistant to Yoshie Takeshita.


    Hiro Takahashi, another experienced U-Squad assistant coach, is the guy who's been with NEC the past eight years. He is now the Head Coach of V2 Champions Gunma Bank Green Wings.