Over a two day period from June 16 (Saturday) to 17 (Sunday), Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs), three of whom were dispatched to India and Sri Lanka in Oshika, Bhubaneswar, played an international friendly game. At the event organized and hosted by the Indian Rugby Football Association, there was a rugby clinic run by Masatoshi Mukoyama, former Japan representative player participating in the event, youth overseas cooperation volunteer's presentation and presentation by the players' representatives from each team.
JOCVs' Comments
India: Hiroki Tokutake
The children I was coaching were worried about whether the Sri Lankan team would really come or not with tension and expectation as a host. I was also looking forward to seeing two of the same JOCVs like myself.
When the Sri Lanka team arrived, I was nervous at first and could not talk, but I gradually blended with them and had strong feelings about wanting to have the match. Through the presentation of JOCVs and the entire event, I was pleased that we were able to reconfirm what our coaches, our members and players themselves were working on over the last two years. I never thought that the players who three of us coached would have a game so this project was just a dream match and I was very proud of my players regardless of the result of the game. I felt it was good to be a rugby crewmember for two years, and my relationship with the children got stronger.
Not only rugby, I think that sports are wonderful because sports have this excitement, and I hope my players with this experience will pass down what they learned to the next generation.
Sri Lanka: Yuri Ito
Because the preparation period was short and the number of practices we had was limited, I worked on practices with an emphasis on communication. The most difficult thing was getting passports and visas for players. We were not able to get all the necessary documents and some documents that we got were incomplete so I was always nervous about it. As soon as the players arrived at KISS, they were puzzled by the language barrier, but through practice they managed to find a way to communicate. In Sri Lanka, there are few opportunities to learn scrum professionally, so the forward players were stimulated by the enthusiastic scrum guidance of the Japanese coach. I was able to receive guidance from a professional coach overseas for the first time and it was a good experience for every player. With the Friendly Match it was possible to play and win the difficult games without giving up to the end. I think that was also a valuable experience.
Besides winning the all games, players learned a lot of other skills such as ground manners. I myself felt that I could get along with anybody as soon as I said I like rugby even though the language and culture were different. I don’t have a lot of time left in Sri Lanka to coach rugby, but I will try to get the best out of everything until I go back.
Sri Lanka: Makoto Mori
For friendly matches, children started to concentrate more on practices and practiced five times a week. The number of children participating also increased and the children started to work on individual skills that they needed to work on, but most importantly the quality of the practice improved and the team became a unit.
Compared to Sri Lanka, India was very hot, but the children actively worked and fought to the end without giving up to Indian players who are more skillful in the game. The speed and skill sets of Indian players were a good stimulus. The girls' team in Sri Lanka had few opportunities to compete in the country, so it was a very good experience. The children from Sri Lanka were able to feel and see the level that Indian children were playing at and they said that they want to be better at it.
In relays and games organized by the children of both countries, it became possible to communicate with each other and they all said that they really enjoyed it and they would like to see each other again in the future.
In addition, the coaches who participated felt the differences in the environment especially how well they practiced. The Sri Lankan girl’s team who is not well equipped should be devised to upgrade their level in the future.
It was truly wonderful to see children from two different countries with two different cultures interact and cooperate together through rugby and witnessing both teams fighting desperately with each other's strength.
I really appreciate the support and efforts of the Friendship Match held. Thank you very much.
