Nagano Soccer Tournament - October 3-4, 2015

October has arrived, and with it, the East Japan ALT Soccer Tournament in Sugadaira, in Nagano prefecture. This year, Saitama did not have the enthusiasm of previous years, so we didn't send a team, just two players: me and another girl.

We went because there was a girls' team that needed more players. I didn't really want to go with my injuries, but I sucked it up, swallowed some painkillers and was off. Our team consisted of two from Saitama, two from Yamanashi, two from Tokyo, and lastly, two from Gifu. I didn't know anyone, not even the other girl from Saitama. 

In past tournaments, I have always gone up on Friday night, but this year, I headed up Saturday morning. I hopped on the Shinkansen to Ueda station and got off with plenty of time to catch my bus. First I went to the wrong exit, then after figuring out the problem I went to the other exit just in time to miss the bus. The bus schedule posted online was wrong and the bus departed earlier than expected. I missed it. Luckily I was able to get a ride with two of my team mates. They picked me up and it was nice to chat with them a bit. While I was waiting, an old man came up to me and started talking to me... I understood most of what he said, which I consider an achievement, since  old man Japanese is notoriously hard to understand, even for native speakers.

There were only three teams in the girls' tournament, so our matches didn't start until 2 pm. We lost our first match against Niigata 2-1. We were still getting used to each other. We had another match right after, against Gunma. They were quite good, but we managed to tie them 2-2. Unfortunately two girls were injured in the process. Our team was half experienced and half beginners. The injured players were experienced :( 

After our matches, it was time to go to the hotel, shower, go into the hot spring, and eat. After dinner and hot springs there was a dance party. I did my best to represent Saitama at the event. In any case, everyone remembered me the next day. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know.

On Sunday, we had to play the first match, it was cold and every one was tired. We managed to win 3-0 against Niigata. I even got a goal! 

In our second match, we lost 2-0 against Gunma. It was a little frustrating... At that point, we were second place, so we had to play one more game to decide the champion. Our competitor was Gunma and they beat us again, 2-0. In the last game people weren't running and we lost  another experienced player. I scored a goal though... On my own goal. Whoops!

So we ended up second place... Again. Not too bad. As usual, no one knew the rules and the reffing was ridiculous. 

The results. We were GifuTamaNashi. A delightful play on words. 

The points before the final game.

The park! Sania park is gorgeous and it has real grass. This is a full field, but the girls only played on half-size fields.

GifuTamaNashi - 2nd place :)

Our prize. 24 cans of grapefruit chu-hi, which is kind of like a cooler. The alcohol content is 6%.

Sunset from a car.

On the way back, I caught a ride with a Tokyo team. I made some good connections there, so I know we'll  be able to join forces next year. For the record, driving is much cheaper than Shinkansen, but much slower... However, it was a great chance to make some friends and get some good Japanese conversation practice :)