Hello! It’s konkaz (@konkazuk).
This summer, my family and I were back in Japan for a short stay.
Knowing that our 14-year-old son loves volleyball, my wife had searched online in advance for a place in her hometown of Wakayama where he could join some practices, even if only for a short time.
As luck would have it, our son was allowed to join the junior high school practice sessions of the ‘United Wakayama‘ volleyball community in Wakayama City.
So, this article is a report about that valuable experience.
Incredible! “United Wakayama”
‘United Wakayama Youth’, launched in 2022, is a community team for junior high school students (secondary school in the UK) that focuses on enhancing their volleyball skills in a fun way outside of school club activities.
It started with just a small group, but now a good number of people are participating.
Although it hasn’t been that long since its founding, I understood why so many people are drawn to it after participating in the training. I thought to myself, ‘Ah, that makes sense!’
The reason is that…
Each staff member passionately coaches the kids, and even in the intense practices, there are always elements designed to make the experience enjoyable!
Each warm-up stretch and strength training session includes a creative, game-like element that excites the children’s desire to challenge themselves, and you can always see smiles all around.
This approach helps kids naturally develop the muscles required for playing while having fun.
By the way, my son T.K. also joined the girls’ volleyball practice on Saturdays, in addition to the Sunday sessions, as the only boy. Although he was initially very nervous and stiff, the kind staff took great care of him, even bringing in a boy from the boys’ team to help out at times. He received a lot of support!
If your child has entered junior high school but isn’t quite happy because there’s no volleyball club, the coaching isn’t passionate enough, or there are too few practice hours, then ‘United Wakayama Youth‘ is definitely worth checking out!
The coaches are truly considerate!
What amazed me during this participation was how the skills of almost all the United kids, including serving, receiving, and spiking, were impressively consistent.
Volleyball involves a series of quick, coordinated plays, so if each player’s skills are not at a certain level, it can be difficult to enjoy the game as a team.
However, the staff members at United Wakayama Youth provide meticulous coaching to each player at an exceptional level, so there’s nothing to worry about.
In most school club activities, there is usually just one teacher in charge, and if you’re lucky, there might be an additional coach.
This makes it challenging to provide personalized instruction to each child. In contrast, at United Wakayama, there are always several staff members (in addition to those shown in the photos), and they sometimes bring in current high school volleyball players to assist, allowing them to support children at different skill levels at the same time.
Our T.K. received detailed advice on aspects like the hitting point for spikes, the way to swing the arm, and the timing before the hit, which provided him with a lot of inspiration.
Therefore, the environment was full of enthusiasm.
The passion of the staff clearly resonates with the kids, and it’s evident that these intense 7-9 pm training sessions have become something they look forward to each week.
This combination of ‘gentleness and strictness’ contributes to the ‘enjoyment’ and establishes a routine of healthy sweating.
Let’s support United Wakayama!
One thing that caught my attention during practice was their uniforms.
If you take a good look, you’ll notice that the uniforms feature the names of sponsors who support ‘United Wakayama Youth’ all over them.
I don’t fully understand the details about sponsorship, but considering that the children from “United Wakayama” will be participating in tournaments and striving for success, travel expenses and other costs will likely be necessary.
Unfortunately, the current sponsorship application period seems to have ended, but if you are interested in contributing to the future of the children at United Wakayama, be sure to check out their Facebook page.
👉 UNITED WAKAYAMA
Anyway, that concludes the article for today. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Takaharu Hiki and the staff he leads, the alumni and former members, and the wonderful youth team players with their great smiles, for providing our T.K. with such a valuable experience.
Thank you very much indeed.
konkaz
*You can read this blog post in Japanese from the link below.
👉 和歌山ユナイテッド和歌山ユースの中学生バレーボールチームに短期間参加させていただきました！