Oh I will miss that piece of paper towel they had as a logo
according to Japanese Wikipedia, which links to Internet Web Archive From July 2019 on the team’s website at that time, the mascot is based on the Salonpas patch, which is a product of Hisamitsu.
Sinead and 4t resigned from denso. There is a big chance that plummer might play with them?
Sinead and 4t resigned from denso. There is a big chance that plummer might play with them?
Saddens me that 4T didn't really get a chance to play with Denso 
Hisamitsu has changed their logo and mascot.
I'm going to start calling them SAGA (in all caps) anyway, even though it didn't make it into their logo. I want everyone to be from somewhere
I hope they don't change the color of their uniforms to the color of that bird
Misaki Inoue has joined SAGA
I am so happy -- not that she is joining SAGA but that she didn't retire (from Saitama). I've been calling on her to be on the NT for a couple years, joining SAGA is the first step.
I'm sad for SAGA setter Ayano Kojima, who came back from maternity retirement, but this is business
More fun with player movement 
Natsumi Watabiki
Display MoreOkayama Seagulls - 岡山 シーガルズ
Okayama Prefecture ( Zip Arena )HEAD COACH - Akiyoshi Kawamoto
Setter:
5 Mizuki Ugajin
Libero:
Middle Blocker:
Wings:
2020 NT players are in blue
Foreign players are in red
New players are in green italics
IN:
Eran Kido ( OH ) Osaka International Takii High School Meyori Funada ( L ) Matsuyama Shinonome High School
OUT:
Moe Sasaki ( OH ) Minami Yoshida ( OH )
Wait, why on earth 7 liberos? and why 24 players?
Wait, why on earth 7 liberos? and why 24 players?
They used to have more than 7 liberos. It's Okayama, very wired team.
Wait, why on earth 7 liberos? and why 24 players?
Okayama is a different breed. Not a corporate team. I think several of the players are still in school, and they load up the team to have more members to hand out kleenex boxes and participate in their volleyball classroom and community activities, etc, which they seem to do a lot more of than other teams. Himeji is kind of like that too.
They used to have more than 7 liberos. It's Okayama, very wired team.
Okayama is a different breed. Not a corporate team. I think several of the players are still in school, and they load up the team to have more members to hand out kleenex boxes and participate in their volleyball classroom and community activities, etc, which they seem to do a lot more of than other teams. Himeji is kind of like that too.
S1 & S2 license teams must have 14 players at a minimum. Up to 3 students can be registered except for unofficial players. This becomes a grey area because are high school and college players, official or unofficial?
S3 license teams must have 12 players at a minimum. S3 teams have no limit on student registration.
S1 arenas must have 3,000 capacity, S2 1,500 and S3 750.
S1 arenas must have 3,000 capacity, S2 1,500 and S3 750.
It's not a strict requirement. I think lots of team do not have arenas that have 3000 capacity.
It's not a strict requirement. I think lots of team do not have arenas that have 3000 capacity.
I think most of them have the capacity, although some teams have a fluid notion of 'home stadium', but hardly any of them can put 3,000 butts in the seats. There were only a handful of matches that topped 3,000 last season. NEC v Hisamitsu comes to mind. The 19/20 FINAL had 4,500, the SEMI Bronze had 2,500.
One of my goals this year is to try and get familiar with V.League Arenas.
The recent topic of "Home Arenas" with capacities required or attendances hoped for reminds me that QPL and I have been sitting here waiting with baited breath for the JVL to realize their new vision for the V.League they announced in 2017.
Among other things, one of the goals was to transition teams from "corporate" to "community". Ageo Medics were first out the gate becoming Saitama Ageo Medics. A little anti-climactic and no one else followed but ... baby steps.
Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Springs recently announced some nonsense about some entity called SAGA Hisamitsu Springs Ltd., Co., Inc., being formed to do something. They changed their logo, their mascot, and their web site address (now saga-springs.co.jp). And they changed their name from Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Springs to Hisamitsu Springs. No SAGA to be found in the name, the logo or on the jersey. So much for the "corporate" to "community" goal 
As for the "Home Arena" business, only the teams with a "community" name have nailed it: Okayama Seagulls have 8 Home games this season at Zip Arena; Himeji Victorina have 8 Home Games at Wink Gymnasium; Kurobe AquaFairies have 8 Home Games at Kurobe General Sports Center. (Kurobe's hold on that seems tenuous, though). I don't know what PFU is.
Trailblazers Saitama have Home Games in three different Arenas this year, none are in Ageo City and only two are in Saitama.
Poor Hitachi have half their games in their home town Hitachinaka, and the other half way up north in Akita Prefecture. PFU have half their home matches in their (presumed) home town in Ishikawa Prefecture and the others a stone's throw from Hokkaido. Props to them both for bringing the game up north, though.
Then there are the Dual Citizenship Teams: SAGA, JT, Denso, Toray, Toyota, and NEC. (NEC's dual life is still pretty much just in Tokyo).
Maybe the "corporate" to "community" transition was less about names and citizenship and more about handing out boxes of tissue instead of doing data input at a giant corporation. The dual citizenship players just have to do it in two places.
I think most of them have the capacity, although some teams have a fluid notion of 'home stadium', but hardly any of them can put 3,000 butts in the seats. There were only a handful of matches that topped 3,000 last season. NEC v Hisamitsu comes to mind. The 19/20 FINAL had 4,500, the
SEMIBronze had 2,500.
Not really if you go through all the home game arenas/stadiums both men and women teams.
Display MoreOne of my goals this year is to try and get familiar with V.League Arenas.
The recent topic of "Home Arenas" with capacities required or attendances hoped for reminds me that QPL and I have been sitting here waiting with baited breath for the JVL to realize their new vision for the V.League they announced in 2017.
Among other things, one of the goals was to transition teams from "corporate" to "community". Ageo Medics were first out the gate becoming Saitama Ageo Medics. A little anti-climactic and no one else followed but ... baby steps.
Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Springs recently announced some nonsense about some entity called SAGA Hisamitsu Springs Ltd., Co., Inc., being formed to do something. They changed their logo, their mascot, and their web site address (now saga-springs.co.jp). And they changed their name from Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Springs to Hisamitsu Springs. No SAGA to be found in the name, the logo or on the jersey. So much for the "corporate" to "community" goal
As for the "Home Arena" business, only the teams with a "community" name have nailed it: Okayama Seagulls have 8 Home games this season at Zip Arena; Himeji Victorina have 8 Home Games at Wink Gymnasium; Kurobe AquaFairies have 8 Home Games at Kurobe General Sports Center. (Kurobe's hold on that seems tenuous, though). I don't know what PFU is.
Trailblazers Saitama have Home Games in three different Arenas this year, none are in Ageo City and only two are in Saitama.
Poor Hitachi have half their games in their home town Hitachinaka, and the other half way up north in Akita Prefecture. PFU have half their home matches in their (presumed) home town in Ishikawa Prefecture and the others a stone's throw from Hokkaido. Props to them both for bringing the game up north, though.
Then there are the Dual Citizenship Teams: SAGA, JT, Denso, Toray, Toyota, and NEC. (NEC's dual life is still pretty much just in Tokyo).
Maybe the "corporate" to "community" transition was less about names and citizenship and more about handing out boxes of tissue instead of doing data input at a giant corporation. The dual citizenship players just have to do it in two places.
Thanks. A lot of explanations and good vibes.
√ #14 Shiori Aratani (OH/MB) Retired 2020.05.08
Shiori is the only surprise. She's 22 years old, had lots of U-Squad experience and made the Senior NT wide roster at 20, but not again since then. She's probably got personal reasons, maybe a job, but NEC was not a good team for her to grow in. She never got consistent playing time. She transitioned very quickly from a kid to someone you put in when the team is in trouble but didn't have the oomph to get over the edge. She will be missed.
Well bless my britches:
She looks younger, happier and more stylin' already, although that NEC picture of her I found on the Internets is pretty nice.
She's listed as MB. We'll see about that. I'm pretty happy with Himeji's MBs as they are. Himeji needs someone on the wings who can score more than a few points. Shiori can play all three front line positions, maybe they'll play foreigner-free this year. That would be cool. Sure, they'd win a few more games with a 190cm import but who cares.
Hat-tip theloneracer
damn you 退団 
but this move gives me hope. NEC is ridiculous with their 9 quality swingers. A few more of them should jump ship.
Not really if you go through all the home game arenas/stadiums both men and women teams.
I'll check it out. As mentioned, learning about the Arenas is one of my goals for this season.
Captains for 2020-2021
Three liberos! Not sure about Aimi Kawashima for the NoSmilers. She's got the Captain banner on the V.League site but that may be old and Okayama plays fast and loose with the Captain thing anyway.
Mana Ishikawa has signed with PFU. She played with Toray Arrows 2015/16 - 2018/19 then last year in Turkey with TED Ankara.
I don't know much about her but I think she left Toray because they couldn't deal with having two M. Ishikawas.
Not really if you go through all the home game arenas/stadiums both men and women teams.
Someone is adding men's arenas over at volleybox I'm looking at, and yeah, many of them are dinky.
I'm looking at ja.wikipedia pages for arenas and I don't really know who uses the "sub" arenas and whatnot, or if I should take the fixed seats and add the standing or moveable to that. But they aren't as big as I thought they were. SAGA Sunrise is less than 3,000, as is Himeji's Wink. Okayama and Kurobe got it covered.