We love "Football"

Hello everyone,

 

You are not going to believe this, but I have watched over 20 amateur football games so far since I joined Football BC. Thanks to this unforgettable experience, I have been able to learn the rules of football, even the differences of each league. In addition, I was motivated to work hard and see my personal motto (“all my efforts will pay off as long as I do my best and not give up in the face of adversity”) being put on display from the players I watched. Thank you, BC football players.

 

How about you?? After you watch football games, how do you feel? Do you see yourself sometimes in the players?

 

Today, I’d like to introduce you to my friends who came to BC Place over the last month to help me shoot videos and take pictures during the high school playoffs.

 

Not only did my friends come to help, but I made them do a survey for my purposes because I wanted to see what they thought about football. In my opinion, every comment I received from them is to the point and concise. My goal, since learning about football, has been to try and show all my friends how amazing the sport is. Do you remember my mission I wrote in the previous blog?? After reading today’s blog, I hope you see that I am well on my way towards that goal.

 

1 Nozomi (Noelle) Araki

My friend Noelle came to volunteer all three weeks of the BC High School Football playoffs that were at BC Place.

 

In my opinion, not only is she a pretty girl but she also has a very strong mentality and huge potential to succeed in anything she does. The reason why I can say that is she is one of the most versatile girls I have ever met in my life. In other words, she has a lot going for her, which makes me envy her. In addition, she contributed to our efforts to cover all the high school games greatly and I know even my supervisor was impressed.

 

When I asked her about feedback of these games, her answer was very analytical. She found the most interesting part of football being the fusion of intelligence and power that is on display. Moreover, she was overwhelmed by the environment and surroundings such as having professional referees, announcers, and coaches which is different from a lot of high school sport events in Japan. Not only did attending make her interested in watching football, she even said she wanted to learn how to play football. What is even better is thanks to her experience volunteering, she became even more interested in working in a sports management field just like me. I was so delighted to hear that from her because I feel like I gave her a great opportunity to make her dreams come true.

 

2 Jihee Olivia Jeong & Mizuki Kaji

My friends Olivia and Mizuki both came to the semi-final day at BC Place, although Mizuki actually also volunteered on quarter-final day.

 

I really appreciated both of them coming to help us because I know how hectic their schedules are.

 

Mizuki was preparing to go back to Japan, while Olivia was actually studying for a big examination.

 

Both of them used to work at Vancouver International Airport as interns for WestJet so their communication skills are amazing. Even though I have difficulty in explaining the tasks I wanted them to help with, they could understand what I meant very quickly by asking for questions to avoid any misunderstandings. I was able to learn from them about how to make people I talk to feel comfortable.

 

With Olivia, she was able to learn the basic rules about football and changed her point of view about the sport. Before watching, she thought it was a very dangerous sport but afterwards, she understands how sophisticated it actually is and how much attention is given to make sure that the players are protected. In addition, she learned the importance of the team work that is needed to win each game. I hope that watching the team work that the players had on the field inspires her to translate it into her future career.

 

As for Mizuki’s feedback, she found the whole experience very touching. She was on the field in the game where Terry Fox lost to Mt. Douglas and she was able to see the tears in the players’ eyes. I think she understands how quickly dreams can be taken away and I hope that encourages her to pursue her dreams as hard as she can because if you don’t, you may lose that opportunity. Her dream job is to be a flight attendant and, I must say, with her drive and customer service skills, she will be able to live out her dream. I will keep my fingers crossed for her.

 

 

3 Narumi Yuki, Moeko Maeda & Kazuki Okumiya



My friends Kazuki and Narumi both came to the semi-final day at BC Place, although Kazuki actually also volunteered on quarter-final day and final day, when Moeko came and join us.

 

First of all, I have to apologize to Kazuki and Narumi for making them wait over 30 minutes outside the stadium. Unfortunately, with the games progressing inside, it was hard for me to meet them right when they arrived. However, both of them were very patient and did not blame me at all. On the contrary, they expressed their thank you for me to give them a chance to watch a live game in BC Place. I was touched by their courtesy.

 

Narumi is a very hilarious person because she has a special talent that is to lighten up everyone’s mood around her by telling jokes. She is a very quick-learner and she’s very fun to be with because her mentality is to work hard and play hard.

 

When it comes to her feedback, it seemed to me that she was most excited to watch the game and tried to really learn as much as she could by asking a lot of questions. I also let her try her hand to take some pictures which can be challenging but she got the hang of it quickly. I hope the experience helps her future career out after going back to Japan.

 

Moeko had been really interested in watching football live since she was in Japan. I’m not sure how it happened, but she seemed really in love with the sport of football which is odd because football is not that popular of a sport in Japan yet.

 

She has a special eye for seeing talented players which she was able to point out to me while watching these games. I think it shows that she can be a very detail-oriented person because she can see things that maybe other people do not. I knew she was interested because after she finished the first game she watched, she quickly asked me about when the next game would be. I think I was able to grab her attention very well.

 

Kazuki is one of the most passionate and diligent people I have ever met. He has only been in Vancouver for a short time but his goal is to learn to speak English as well as even native speakers.

 

He used to be a very good soccer player and that experience led him to be interested in watching football because it reminded him of his childhood. In watching how hard the players worked to achieve their goals, Kazuki felt motivated to continue to work just as hard towards his own personal goals. Because of his hard-working nature, I think if I ever need volunteer workers again, I will definitely invite him first because I can trust he will always do his best.

 

4 Kazutaka (Kaz) Kobayashi

My friend Kaz came to the semi-final day at BC Place.

 

Kaz is one of the best English speakers among my Japanese friends. He has been the longest among all the people I know, but he is a very humble and courteous person so he never tries to show off.

 

When it comes to his feedback, I realized that how diligent he is. He really thought about every question I asked and gave a very careful answer. He said that he not only enjoyed watching the game, but also learned about skills like shooting videos. I must say without his help, I would not have been able to cut the great highlight videos that I did. I cannot thank him enough for his great efforts. He also said that he could catch up with the complicating rules from just watching one game. I am glad he was able to have this experience under his belt.

 

5 Maki Matsuda

My friend Maki came to the final day at BC Place.

 

Among all my friends, Maki is the most familiar with football. She really marveled at the atmosphere and the sophistication of the game. She was particularly impressed with the state-of-the-art technology for coaches to convey tactics and strategies to the players. One thing she wondered, however, was if all the technology meant that there was less interaction between players and coaches, or players and spectators.

 

She also wondered why there is no national competition after deciding a provincial champion. I understand it is so challenging because of the tremendous size of Canada and the budget for holding competitions would be very expensive.

 

In Japan, there is a national baseball competition named Koushien, which is the most prestigious high school baseball tournament. It is extremely popular and equivalent to American College Competition because of the media attention as well as having each game being broadcasted commercial-free.

I think she wondered why there could not be something similar in football, but I know from experience because of the physical demands of football, it is impossible to have a tournament in a short time. From her comments, I must say Maki has a different perspective from others and thinks outside the box.

 

I am so delighted that everybody got a positive image of football after watching these games. At the same time, I really appreciate their contributions to Football BC as volunteers. Without their support, I would not have been able to have such a great time working. After reading their comments, I realized again how wonderful football is and it made me even more enthusiastic about wanting to convey just how attractive amateur football is to people by providing opportunities for them to watch it. I hope I have a chance again in the future to do this.
 

 

Thank you so much for reading my blog. I hope you understand just how important this blog meant to me. If you want to re-live all the great memories from Subway Bowl, please check out the official newsletter. Have a great day.