After three years of high school, I walked into the university door, International Pacific University, or IPU.
IPU is located in Okayama Prefecture, near Hiroshima. Because the number of sunny days is the highest, and the number of days with less than 1 mm of precipitation is the highest in Japan, Okayama is also called "the land of sunny". Following in the footsteps of rugby, I successfully qualified for the exemption from the exam with a letter of recommendation from the high school team.
Join the university team and face new challenges with new teammates. Rugby is like a language, a group of strangers who play ball get together, don't have to say much, and play a ball game to become good friends. With this kind of tacit understanding that is characteristic of rugby people, I quickly found a sense of belonging in this strange environment. As a foreigner at a university far away in Japan, I felt the importance of rugby culture even more.
At the same time, rugby skills led me to a sports scholarship, which undoubtedly helped me a lot in my university life.
(University Rugby Stadium)
(University Gymnasium)
Compared with high school, college has more training majors. Better equipment, a more complete team of coaches, and a larger number of players. This means that the competition in college football is more intense.
The way university teams operate has changed a lot. The work of the university coach pays more attention to inspiration and summary, and the daily life of the team, such as specific training subjects, game play, life schedule, etc., is often discussed and decided by the team leader. The coach is more like an auxiliary, and it is every player who directly drives the team.
As a first-year freshman, I didn't understand this way at first, but now it seems that this has greatly strengthened the team's sense of teamwork and ability to think independently.
Author: Zhu Qi
Images from friends and the Internet