Quote from Phoenix

It's possible. We love to see it.

I don't really know Yamanaka. Can you link any videos of her playing

I'm not sure if you need a paid vtv to watch last summer's league. She was on East #5

If you can't or don't have that, it's less satisfying to watch a UNIVAS match from last december's All Japan collegiate. She's Captain #1 on Aoyama in green IN THE SECOND MATCH of that video

Quote from sean1

Most likely by tomorrow during or after the press conference

Exciting

I hope

Sarina Koga:

Quote

I had already decided to quit volleyball after the V-League next season (2023), so it wasn't that I didn't want to go, or that I wouldn't go, but that I thought I couldn't go.

source

Quote from avid

is there context missing? is she quitting? or thought about it before being named captain?

I don't know. If she's not just making up all that wishy-washy, namby-pamby, flippy-floppy nonsense for dramatic effect ... it's troubling

Here's the whole article Deppl translated:

Why did Sarina Koga take on the "captain" who said "it's absolutely impossible"? "One month of conflict" revealed by the new leader of the women's volleyball team

If they lose, it's over, and they lost in the final game.

April 3, the final match of the V1 regular round of the V-League women's tournament. In the match between the NEC Red Rockets and Hisamitsu Springs, the final match of the V1 regular round for women, Hisamitsu won after a series of victories that would have ended if they had lost.

Only a few days had passed since the defeat, and after the match, Hisamitsu expressed his frustration, repeating, "There was a gap in the game. I was a little prepared for where to start, but Sarina Koga appeared, looking more refreshed than frustrated, as if my fears were groundless.

I'm disappointed that we lost, and I'm also disappointed that we didn't seize the chance to win the championship ourselves," she said. But at the same time, I also felt that we should have won. We had a lot of good players, and I was confident that if we could do what we needed to do, we would not lose to anyone. However, there was a gap at the end. I was able to calmly accept that I was only prepared for this outcome.

Calmly and precisely, he spun his feelings and thoughts into words one after another.

The difference between the current situation and the team that won the league championship twice since he joined NEC in 2015.

The sprained right ankle joint sustained during the Tokyo Olympics also affected the team's performance in the early stages of this season's V-League, and even in the end, they were unable to achieve the results they were aiming for.

And why did he take on the role of "captain" of the Japanese national team this season?

I thought it would never happen, and I thought it was impossible for me. I had already decided to quit volleyball after the V-League next season (2023), so it wasn't that I didn't want to go, or that I wouldn't go, but that I thought I couldn't go.

I knew I wasn't suited for it."

Two months earlier, he was in the middle to the end of the season. Two months earlier, when the season was in its midpoint and approaching its end, I had the same opportunity to interview Koga.

I wondered if it would not be long before he would be captain not only of NEC but also of the national team. When I asked him about it, he denied it with a withering smile.

It's absolutely impossible," he said. I know myself better than anyone else that I am not suited to be a captain, and I can't be such a selfish player (laughs). I won't stop playing volleyball yet, but from now on I will be in a position to support the Japan national team.

Koga's appearance in both the Japan national team and the NEC was both resilient and dependable, but during the interview, what Koga repeated was that she was "more focused on the people around me" and "wanting to teach young players everything I can" rather than her own challenges for the "future.

Far from being joking, her strong denial of not going was a bit of a surprise, but at the same time it convinced me that she was serious.

However, what about the people around her? Most people probably thought that Sarina Koga would be the next captain. In fact, Masayoshi Manabe, who is taking charge of the national team for the first time in five years, declared at the March 31 press conference announcing the registered players, "I thought she was the only one who could be the captain. But why did she accept the captaincy, which she had said was "impossible," when she was so stubborn that once she had made up her mind, she would not change it?

When I asked her straightforwardly, Koga's words flowed as if from a dam.

She replied, "If I only think about myself, from the Nations League before the Tokyo Olympics, I was on the edge physically and mentally, and it was impossible for me to think about what I could do next. I had already given everything I could at that point, and I knew I couldn't do the same thing, that I couldn't make the national team. But I thought that if the Japanese team didn't make it to the Paris Olympics, I would regret not going, rather than standing on that court and being confronted with the reality that I didn't make it.

A word of caution from coach Kaneko

In early February, before the Japan national team roster was publicly announced, Koga was informed by NEC coach Takayuki Kaneko that he would be included in the national team roster for this season. At that point, the choice was not a positive one. When told that Director Manabe wanted to talk to him in person, he initially tried to run away, saying, "I don't want to.

However, when Kaneko said, "It is not a question of whether or not you will go, but rather, you should be thankful that you have been selected for the Japan team and at least listen to what he has to say," I was moved to tears. I realized that the "Japan team" is not an easy decision to make because you don't want to go, and that it is not a place where everyone wants to go because they want to go.

I realized that it is not a place where everyone wants to go because they want to go. "There are people who have worked hard through the difficult times, like Erika (Araki) and Yoshie Takeshita, and I wondered if it was okay for me to say that I had already given it my all and would not go. Looking back on it now, I have probably been telling myself that since that time. I told myself, "If I don't go, I won't regret it, I won't regret it. I was trying to justify to myself that it was okay if I didn't go.

Continued ...

Part 2 ...

To go to the national team or not to go? Koga consulted with two trusted teammates, Misaki Yamauchi and Kaori Ueno. The answers were polar opposites.

Knowing Koga's personality well, Ueno said coolly.

Sarina did her best. You don't have to go (to the national team) anymore, so let's work hard at the NEC together.

However, she added, "But if you have regrets, it would be better for you to go.

But if you are going to regret it, you might as well go. If you don't go, you really won't regret it, will you?

I don't regret it. I did my best. Koga told herself this and asked the captain, Yamauchi, the same question, to which he immediately responded.

I can only imagine Sarina being the captain of the national team. I can only imagine Sarina leading, and Sarina yelling and howling after a spike.

I even interrupted her, saying, "Seriously, stop talking about it, I don't want to. I don't want to. But even so, Yamauchi repeated with a calm expression on her face, "It's Sarina who decides.

The decision is Sarina's, but I think she's already decided on the answer.

After hearing that she would be joining the national team, her conflicts continued to deepen until coach Manabe officially asked her to be captain at the end of the month.

What should I do? Should I put the captaincy on hold for now and just go to the national team? No, what does "for the time being" mean?

The answer came to Koga the next morning, after a sleepless night of talking with Manabe, when he asked himself the same question.

I will go (to the national team). I thought about it for a month, and it was really tough, but once I decided to do it, I felt better. Looking back on it now, I really had it in my mind.

When she was selected for the Japan national team for the first time in 2013, she was a high school student who didn't know what was right or left. For the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, I was dropped from the team just before the event, not knowing the value or weight of the competition. He sprained his right ankle in his first game, and although he was in no condition to play, he fought to "do something," but ended up eliminated from the preliminary league for the Tokyo Olympics. Including Rio, where she was unable to even stand, the Paris Olympics in two years will be Koga's third challenge.

I would definitely regret it if I didn't make it to the Olympics, and I have to make it," she said enthusiastically. Koga can say with certainty that there is a starting point that has led him to where he is today. In retrospect, his experience at the World Cup in 2007, rather than in 2004, when he was eliminated from the final team, was a major factor.

I had knee pain, and when I couldn't play in the games, I was in a huff, saying, 'I can't play anyway,' or 'I'll be replaced anyway' (laughs). But because I had many opportunities to watch from the outside, I was able to observe the team from a very calm perspective.

For example, some people have their arrows pointed toward themselves, while others tend to be pointed toward others. There are those who try to fulfill their own role, and there are those who play with dedication but do not give much direction to those around them. It is not a matter of good or bad, but rather I have come to see once again that everyone is different. （Erika (Araki, captain of the Tokyo Olympics) always did her best to lead the team, but even so, I felt that what was absolutely lacking was someone who could move everyone toward the same victory in the shortest possible distance.

I don't know if I can do that, but if I can do it, I will be absolutely indispensable to the team. So, I decided to share what I thought and realized in my own team (NEC) by putting it into words, and as long as I said it, I had to be the first to do it. If anything changed for me, it was definitely at that time.

Koga's appearance on the court, the precision of her play, her will to win, and her attitude of leading the team are all the result of these changes, but Koga's transformation does not stop there. Even now, when he gives interviews, which he says he is still basically not good at, he not only answers in short, blunt sentences, but even immediately after a game, if he can understand what the interviewer is trying to say, he will answer in a polite manner.

What is the ideal leader?

The "ideal," which had been vague, is now clearly visible.

He says, "I think (U.S. national team captain Jordan) Larson and (South Korean national team captain) Kim Young-kyung are great leaders. They give instructions and encourage those around them, but the basic premise is that they take the lead and do what they need to do first. I think it is important to have that kind of attitude. There are differences between men and women, but Yuki Ishikawa is no exception. Everyone is fighting for the team and to win, but he is the one who takes the lead and makes the decisions first. That kind of captain is my ideal.

After all her struggles, how will Koga, who has decided to do it, show us what she will do? It goes without saying that we can only imagine how difficult a road she will have to travel, along with the high expectations that have been raised.

But how determined was Koga to reverse his firm decision not to represent the national team and not to serve as captain?

Once he made up his mind, he would never bend it again. I hope that Koga will continue to display her true spirit to the fullest on the court of the national team.

There are many photos that could not be introduced in the article. Please click here to see them.

Maybe it's just conflict with Manabe She might help qualify the team for the Paris Olympics and then Minabe cuts her from the team at the last minute