Kick-Start Your Season: Unlocking the Power of Preparedness with JSKS Rugby Football Club

Hello. This is Shuntaro Araki, the captain. Tomorrow is the GW match. I have been preparing up until today to demonstrate the culmination of the past year and avenge the humiliation of the past three years. I spend the day surrounded by a little bit of tension and excitement.

Finally, the last blog. This was a very disorganized piece of writing, but I honestly wrote about my current feelings. Please read it.

why do you want to win? The reason why an ambiguous organization called a quasi-athletic club is obsessed with winning.

I started playing rugby when I was in the first grade of elementary school. Up until junior high school, he played rugby with current Teikyo captain Kate Aoki, and while his classmates went on to strong schools such as Toin and Sagami, he went on to the local Shonan High School. Like JSKS, Shonan didn’t have a coach, so they practiced and thought about their own tactics. Even though I was the vice captain of the team, I was not seriously involved in club activities.

I still remember the day I retired. The opponent is Toin Junior High School. Shonan, who had been practicing in anticipation of the upcoming match against Toin, lost to Toin and others. Contemporaries crying around me. I couldn’t shed a tear. I couldn’t get this hot. I didn’t realize how much fun it was to play rugby seriously, and I found myself feeling cold.

Entered university. Of course, I don’t take rugby seriously, so there was no way I would consider joining an athletic club.

But I wanted to play rugby, and that’s when I met JSKS. Free rugby without being tied to wins or losses. There was no fitness, no contact, and the rugby I was looking for was there.

1st year GW match. Of course, I had no feelings for the other person. “It seems like he’s strong, but doesn’t he look like he’ll win?” That’s what I thought.

The result was 12-59. Big defeat. I remember feeling uncomfortable at that time. I had never cared about winning or losing, but for the first time I felt “frustrated.” I really liked the team I played in my first year, and I started liking JSKS, so I decided to try and beat Golden Week, but before I knew it, we had lost. But my regrets at that time ended there.

2nd year student. The atmosphere of the team has changed. Daiki-san, Yuuta-san, and others, whom I respect, reorganized the team with the aim of winning. But I couldn’t beat GW, MR, or Yamagaku. It was frustrating. No matter how good the team is, they can’t win. After all, JSKS. That feeling was somewhere in my heart.

3rd grade. Became BK leader and new representative. My view of JSKS has completely changed. Unlike the 1st and 2nd graders who enjoyed freedom, the 3rd and 4th graders had responsibilities as executives. I hit a wall.

I don’t know how to put together a practice menu. I don’t even know the tactics. No one comes to practice. I can’t win the game. Even though I was the BK leader, I had no idea what to do.

The Golden Week match, Kurumi match. It was a defeat after a close battle. I went home and cried alone. It was frustrating. I wanted to win with my favorite seniors and my favorite friends.

And 4th grade. To the captain. Last year, December. Either you create a team that seriously aims to win, or you don’t. I was worried. Of course, I really want to win. But we are JSKS, a semi-athlete club. What kind of team should we make of an ambiguous organization called a quasi-athlete club? The team you want to aim for and the team your club members aim for may be different. I didn’t have the courage or determination to change the team structure. I even thought it would be difficult to create a team that was serious about winning.

However, other executives were different. They are doing things one after another that were negative until last year, such as spsilock, penalties for being late, and contact in practice. Instead of making “winning” a vague goal, make it a reality. There was no way I could have done it alone, and the time I spent building a team with the goal of winning was really fun and meaningful. I cannot thank the executives enough. Let’s run with all our might in the next two months.

Executive drinking party

The season began with the goal of winning the club championship. Contact practice started in March. Penalty glitter. Many first-year students came to join us as new students. Victory against MRC. Captain’s wild drinking party at night. Winning the Sevens Championship. autumn season. Training camp. Another drinking party. For half a year, we have shared a lot of time and emotions. It was the most fulfilling six months of my life, and I don’t think there will be any more days in the future where I can spend time with my friends and work towards achieving my goals with this much enthusiasm.

Of course, there were difficulties. As a captain, what words should you say to your team? What is the atmosphere like in the team? Are the juniors familiar with it? Are practice menus effective? He has been thinking about the team every single day since the team started.

As captain, I lead the team every day. There were days when I thought, “I’m feeling lazy at practice today.” I headed to the ground feeling a little depressed. However, when I got to the field, a lively group of classmates and juniors came over. My gloomy mood disappeared. When I think about it, I was always helped by my classmates and juniors. Not only Shioda and Yai, who have helped me many times in terms of tactics and play, but also Shogo, who is growing rapidly with his high aspirations, Arakou, who motivates me with his passionate heart, and the first year student who talks to me personally and gives me advice as a forward. The players committed to JSKS with far more enthusiasm than I expected. Each of us led the team so much that we didn’t even have to try our best. I feel like an idiot for worrying about building a team in December. I have only mentioned a few names above, and there are many more to whom I would like to express my gratitude. (Synchronization will be done another time)

favorite

JSKS taught me, at a time when I couldn’t even shed a tear, the joy of tackling things seriously and striving for victory.

“Why do you aim for victory?”

I’ve always had doubts about this since I was in high school, as I hate fighting and competing. But now I can give you an answer.

Is it because you want to be rewarded for your efforts? Is it because you want to show a different JS than before? Is it because you want to meet the expectations of the alumni who support you?

Of course, there is that too. But after all, I love this team, and I want to share the joy of victory with my teammates. I want to repay everyone who gave me a reason to work hard and made me so excited with a victory. The six months I spent as captain wasn’t all fun, but I was able to get to where I am today because of everyone’s support. I got strength from everyone, thank you.

Today, during unit time, I stepped away from the forwards a bit and looked at the team as a whole. Until now, I thought JS was a team with few voices. But when I look in from the outside, I can hear more voices than I expected. There are enough people to make two sets of FW and BK. The forwards are practicing mainly through discussions with the underclassmen. On the other hand, BK is mainly a 4th year student who is vocally encouraging the practice. Although the format is different, everyone is working towards victory. I thought they were a really good team. I am proud from the bottom of my heart to be the captain of this team. That’s why we can’t end up just being a “good team.” I don’t want to feel regret anymore. Let’s win and see the best scenery together.

For that reason, tomorrow I will embody BEAST with my body. Keep raising your voice until you lose your voice. Continue to take a step forward through contact. This is the “preparation” that I still lacked when I became captain. There will be tough times tomorrow. There are times when it’s so tiring that I want to stop. When that happens, please look at me. Please watch my back and hold on. He continues to pull everyone in with his play and voice. Let’s keep running for 80 minutes as a team. Believe in your strength and let’s do it. We can definitely win.

Let’s win.

Shuntaro Araki