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| .The Johoku Longhorns Kyoto, Japan (2009) . Not quite ready for prime time at this point, but they would be... 5,000 bench reps, 12,000 squats, and 2 thrashings later. |
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| .Ninth graders trying to figure out their equipment. Johoku field - Hiroshima, Japan (2008) . .
When I first met the new kids I was excited that we finally had enough (16 guys total) to field a team. They didn't appear to be the most mature group of guys. They were..., well..., typical ninth graders. Two of them had quit the basketball team because the coach was too strict (Out of the frying pan and...). A couple of them would just suddenly and inexplicably, dash off chasing insects just as elementary school kids do. They had no idea what they'd gotten themselves into. This is what I had to work with.
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.New recruits
The rookies (9th graders) in the blue, six 10th graders and two 11th graders in white.
Johoku is a private academic school where the students are typically more studious than athletic. The majority of our competition is located six hours to the east in the competitive Kansai area. There, the teams are usually experienced and more athletic than the two geographically isolated Hiroshima teams. It's very rare for a team from Kansai to venture westward to Hiroshima. Whenever we announced an upcoming competition in Kansai the players would respond with a combination of excitement and anxiety. I remember feeling strangely as if I were a tour guide preparing to lead a group of well heeled tourists into the hazardous depths of the jungle.
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"And remember, keep your arms and legs in the boat and don't under any circumstances feed the wild linebackers"...
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In November of 2008, we travelled six and a half hours east by train to take part in a three team scrimmage in Kobe, Japan. We only had eight players that day, so I suited-up and we borrowed a couple of players from one of the other teams.
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It was the first time for the fellas to actually face a full squad, so they forgot the basics under the pressure of the moment. To cap it off, the three players we borrowed were beginners as well. I ended up having to tell each of the players what to do individually myself. Not one, but two groups of beginners and a foreign coach that speaks strange Japanese in the huddle with a new offensive system. You can't make this stuff up.
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The "E ticket" ride...
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.Hyogo Ritsumeikan Moriyama H.S., Kobe Rokko H.S.,
and Hiroshima Johoku H.S.
Kobe, Japan (2008)
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The last play of the scrimmage all purpose athlete (#5) Kato burned the Ritsumeikan defense for a long touchdown. Though we didn't set any records on the field that day, we did accomplish something that has probably never been done. Our whole football team arrived at the field in just two taxis.
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.Returning from Kobe on the bullet train (2008)
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I could tell the guys were happy to have gotten dirtied up for the first time. The school representative jokingly told me that for these kids, going to another city to compete against teams that they'd previously only read about in sports magazines was like going on a giant roller coaster.
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Slow starts, strong finishes...
and other unsolved mysteries
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| .Johoku vs Rokko Kobe, Japan (2010) |
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After six months of hard training and going up against bigger college players, the kids had become quite good. The sophomores were starting to do things that much more experienced players could do. The juniors left over from the 2008 team had become more instinctive and deliberate in their level of play as well. By the winter of 2009 we'd begun to take on some of the more elite programs in the Kansai area, though we still had only eighteen or so players.
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At this stage in the Johoku player's development they'd started to play instinctively and had no hesitancy in going after folks. Hints of growth and confidence began to appear. Kids that had been previously forced to lift weights were discovering biceps and hamstrings.
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In the beginning, whenever I scrimmaged with the young guys it was easy for me to shrug off their tackles; a well timed stiff-arm and I was off to the races. Recently, whenever I delivered the reliable old stiff arm the kids wouldn't give it back. Physically, they weren't the same kids that had got beaten-up four months prior. Although, the X factor on game day was their mentality; that was the unknown.
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Despite the young guy's physical progress, the beatings they'd experienced earlier seemed to have been burned into their psyches. I always observed my team's demeanor during pre-game; while I could easily hear our opponents woofing, my guys were silent as ghosts. The opponents were always older and bigger, but we'd been going up against colleges and grown men for the past six months. Perhaps there was more aggression and hostility projected from high school opponents.
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The lethargy of Johoku during warm-ups would inevitably spill over into the game, often lasting until half-time. It's as if the young guys were feeling out opponents; accepting as opposed to taking, waiting as opposed to initiating. Upon realizing the other team's hits weren't so bad, they pinned their ears back and fought. What had started out months ago as a physical and mental deficiency had been reduced to mental.
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Though this pattern of starting slow was frustrating, it made for some thrilling finishes. When the young guys realized it was "safe" to fight they'd run their opponents off the field. Their contests were truly "a tale of two halves" with outcomes determined within the final minutes.
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The comeback kids in action...
.Select video links below to view finishes.
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Late 4th quarter: video Mikki 6
Johoku 0
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Half - time: video Osaka Kindai Fuzoku 19
. Johoku 0
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Late 4th quarter: video Rokko 13
. Johoku 0
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Half - time: video Sotoku 21
. Johoku 0
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Overall, this particular group of players seemed to have had the farthest journey of the teams I coached. I'm lucky to have been able to witness their growth from the front row. Though initially hesitant, they stared down the beast. Tears were shed and bones broken; yet in the end not a single kid jumped overboard. They refused to allow their stature or their extenuating circumstances determine their success. Though at times grudgingly, they did everything asked of them and persevered. Their growth and development is by far the greatest thing I've ever had the honor of being associated with.
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Just give us the address, we'll show up...
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| .Johoku vs semi-pro Kure Gulf Angels Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku combined scrimmage with Shudo University Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku vs Ritsumeikan Moriyama Hyogo, Japan (2009) |
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| . Johoku vs semi-pro Kure Gulf Angels "Time out" old guys... It was hot that day so I offered unlimited timeouts to the older guys. They took up my offer and called at least twenty. Watching my 16 and 17 year old players get frustrated with grown men was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Hiroshima, Japan - August (2009) |
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| .Johoku combined scrimmage with Shudo University Hiroshima, Japan (2008) |
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| .Warm-ups Johoku vs Mikki Hyogo, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku vs Sotoku Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .Myself, Kato QB (#3), Anada LB (#50), and Mr. Takeshita at Hiroshima Station before they depart for the All-Star game. Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .A visiting team from Ashland H.S. in Oregon with my players (in the rear). They came to Japan to play the bi-annual Pacific Rim Bowl against the All Kansai team. Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku vs Osaka Minoo H.S. Osaka, Japan (2010) |
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| .Johoku vs Mikki Hyogo, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku vs Osaka Gakuin In Japan tenth graders typically don't play as they aren't deemed "physically ready". On this day eight of Johoku's eleven starters were tenth graders and the other three were eleventh graders. Osaka Gakuin's tenth graders are on the sideline in the all white uniforms looking like wedding brides. Conversely, Johoku's all tenth grade defensive line is down in the trenches getting busy with the big boys. They came to rumble son!! We got thumped that day, but it was all good. Osaka, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku vs Osaka Kindai Fuzoku Osaka, Japan (2010) |
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.Johoku vs Osaka Minoo H.S.
Osaka, Japan (2010)
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| .Johoku alumni game Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .After the alumni game Hiroshima, Japan (2008) |
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| .Half-time Johoku vs Takarazuka Higashi Hyogo, Japan (2009) . . . |
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.Kinritsu University vs Johoku
Hiroshima, Japan (2009)
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| .Johoku vs Sotoku Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku vs Osaka Minoo Osaka, Japan (2010) |
.Johoku vs Osaka Kindai Fuzoku
Osaka, Japan (2010)
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| .Johoku vs Johoku Alumni Hiroshima, Japan (2009) |
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| .Johoku vs Rokko Kobe, Japan (2010) .
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.Johoku vs Mikki
Hyogo, Japan (2009)
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| .Before... (2007) as junior high students. |
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| After... (2009) all grown up. |
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.Johoku vs Kure Gulf Angels
Hiroshima, Japan (2009)
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.Johoku red vs white scrimmage.
Hiroshima, Japan (2008)
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.The "player toss", a graduation tradition
Hiroshima, Japan (2012)
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| .Johoku Longhorns - Class of 2012 After their traditional "Longhorn" football graduation ceremony. This was the last class of players I coached at this school. Hiroshima, Japan (2012) |
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