The best move I have made recently is to join the Saitama Ladies' football team (or "Dasai jo" as we like to call ourselves). Little did I know what fun, new friendships and exciting experiences this would lead
to.............
Last year, a keen young NOVA friend had unsuccessfully attempted to start up a Saitama women's football team, but after a couple of practices with just her, her very patient husband and me, she understandably ditched the idea. It was very hard to raise interest and the logistics of planning where
to have practices and finding Japanese teams to play against triumphed over our longing to kick a ball around.
However, this year, Julie Nunn liked the sound of sending a team to the All Japan JET Tournament, so, after much cajoling from our ever-so-persuasive captain from Highashi Matsuyama, we managed to find windows in our overpacked diaries and gathered a team of eager women together for one(!) practice before the competition.
VERY early on a bright October Saturday, we piled onto a coach with the long-established men's team, headed for the slopes of Nagano. I already knew some of the men but the coach ride was largely a self-introduction session.
The same went for the women - some of us had only met once and we were all secretly wondering how we would work together on the pitch - would we even remember everyone's names?
As we approached our destination, we kept an eager eye out for the GRASS pitches we had been promised - a phenomenon few and far between in this country. The mountainous region of Nagano was a far cry from the pancake-flat plains of Saitama and the natural beauty of the place was augmented by beautifully clear, sunny expanses of sky. October in Japan is lovely - clear, bright, warm and sunny. Indeed, most of us suffered from sunburn after a day on the field. We were a little disappointed, however,
when we arrived at the venue. We women felt rather deceived when we saw what we would be playing on - the term "grass" was used in the loosest sense.
"Rock hard dirt with tufts of greenery" would be a more accurate description.
Nevertheless, we were keen to don our boots and get out there and show our stuff. What we lacked in skill, we made up for in determination. Our coach was quite astonished to see the size of pitch we were on, considering we were only playing 6-a-side and we soon saw what he was on about. After 15 minutes of scrambling after a ball which would reach the other end of the pitch with one bounce whilst adjusting to an altitude of 7,000 feet, I felt as if my lungs were about to spontaneously combust! At first I said nothing, not wanting to reveal my lack of fitness to the other team (or my own teamates, for that matter!), but it was soon clear that everyone was feeling it. Luckily, after the first game, our stamina improved.
The first day of the tournament was a gruelling day of non-stop games and minor injuries, but by the end of the day, our team had really bonded and we were having a great time. It was interesting to see the traditional Japanese rivalry between Kanto and Kansai played out on a microcosmic level. For some reason, the Osaka girls hated us Saitama upstarts with a passion, so we gave as good as we got! War without the weapons, it seems.
However, these battles stayed on the field, pretty much and we all welcomed the chance to ease our battered and bruised bodies in the hotel's sento afterwards. We were pleasantly surprised by the hotel cuisine and enjoyed an evening of school disco-esque dancing.
We paid for our excesses of the night before with a 9.30 start on the Sunday morning. Needless to say, our stiff-legged, hungover performance did not live up to our previous form, but we put up a good fight nonetheless.
Unfortunately we were knocked out before the semi-finals, but this gave us the chance to go and support the men, who were doing well.
After we had got over the shock of the luxuriousness of their lush green pitches, we coordinated the best display of support I have seen in a long time - dancing, chants, letters painted on our bellies. We were extremely devoted supporters!
Sadly, after dominating the final, our boys went out on penalties to the home team.
Our mood on the way home was not too sombre, though. We had all had a fantastic time and had the chance to meet not only foreigners, but also Japanese people. The World Cup it may not have been, but football had once again proved to be a uniting factor across national and cultural barriers (except for the ongoing football vs soccer quarrel...). What a beautiful game!
Orla McAleavy
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