With my beloved friends
When we won the match together,
There is nothing to be happy about.

College of Health and Welfare Third-year students
Captain of the Women's Lacrosse Club
Graduate of Kanagawa Prefectural Jogo High School

Kanami Yamaguchi

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I wanted to start something new. That's when I discovered lacrosse.

I enrolled in J. F. Oberlin University in the spring of 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Various school events and activities, such as high school graduation ceremonies, university entrance ceremonies, classes, and club activity briefings and trial sessions, were held online rather than in person. With restrictions on going out, unable to attend university, and making friends, a strong desire to start something new began to welling up inside me. It was at that time that I encountered the sport called lacrosse. When I saw activities on social media and elsewhere, I saw how shining seniors were and how many started sports at university, making it easy for beginners to succeed and attracted me, which made me decide to join.

The atmosphere in the women's lacrosse club is very bright and full of energy. Currently, the members are all second and third-year students, but a distinctive feature is that everyone gets along well regardless of their year. Only one member has prior lacrosse experience; the rest of the members started playing in college. Everyone has different experiences in high school club activities, and the team is made up of strong, diverse personalities. It's challenging to keep everyone together, but we communicate through discussions and work hard towards a common goal.

I can continue as captain because of the support of the people around me.

Our team's defining characteristic is our relentless and hard-working approach to the game. While this can sometimes backfire, once we're on the field, everyone gives their all for the team. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, our seniors retired earlier than usual, so in our third year, we found ourselves in a position to manage the club, and I myself became the captain. Even after entering university, tournaments were changed to a special league format, and tournaments and training camps for first-year students organized by the Japan Lacrosse Association were canceled, meaning we missed out on the experiences we would normally gain in our first and second years.

Because lacrosse is a minor sport, the students are primarily responsible for everything, including arranging practices, booking matches, and finding coaches. At first, I made a lot of mistakes because I didn't know anything, and I felt very anxious. Of course, even now I sometimes wonder if I'm good enough to be captain, but I think I can continue as captain because of the support of those around me, such as my teammates who kindly encourage me, the executives who tell me to "support each other," and the coaches who dedicate their time to training us.

Change won't happen unless you take the first step yourself.

What I learned from lacrosse is "never give up until the very end" and "don't be afraid of failure." In lacrosse, you have to keep running for 15 minutes x 4 quarters on a field the same size as a soccer field (110m x 60m). Also, according to the rules, there is no limit to the number of substitutions, so having more players allows you to recover your stamina, which gives you an advantage. We have fewer players than other universities, but we run to our limits, fueled by the support of our teammates and coaches. Our coaches always tell us, "Nothing will change unless you do it." After being encouraged so many times, I realized that if I was afraid of failure, I couldn't lead the team, and I couldn't lead the team to victory unless I changed myself. I strongly feel that in order to change the team for the better, I myself must take that first step.

I've been passionately serving as captain, but before I knew it, I'll be retiring in just one year. My current goal is to stay in the third division and get promoted to the second division in my final year next season. I want to fight to the end with my beloved teammates, playing in our own style, and giving it my all until the very end.

Interview date:
This was done in October 2022 for the "Obirin Sports" website.

With my beloved friendsWhen we won the match together,There is nothing to be happy about.

Main content

I wanted to start something new. That's when I discovered lacrosse.

I can continue as captain because of the support of the people around me.

Change won't happen unless you take the first step yourself.

Related content

With my beloved friends
When we won the match together,
There is nothing to be happy about.