Misawa team forges international friendships on the field

  • Published
  • By By Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez
  • 35th Fighter Wing public affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  Bitter temperatures, rain and snow couldn't stop die-hard hard soccer players from coming out to play a game with local Japanese teams.

A friendship tournament was held between Misawa United and two Japanese teams from an off-base league here Nov. 18.

Misawa United is a team comprised of civilians and servicemembers from here. The team includes enlisted members, officers, Airmen, Sailors, spouses, civilian employees, and even a high school student.

"Never once have I been part of such a diverse team," said Misawa United coach Staff Sgt. Daniel Leasher. "This is by far, the largest mix of people you will find on one team."

This diverse team is part of the Misawa Football Association. Although the base offers an intramural league, Sergeant Leasher said he thought it was good for players to be part of an off-base league because of the higher skill level present. Through a local contact, Sergeant Leasher was able to convince the league commissioner to accept a team from the base into the league. The team he put together is the first team from the base to be part of the league in 10 years.

Try-outs for the new team were held in February. Sergeant Leasher said he had specific things he was looking for in his players.

"I wanted talented but passive players - and ones with good attitudes," he said. "The Japanese style of play is a little different from the American way. Americans play more physically than the Japanese do. I didn't want anyone on the team that was going to be too aggressive."

One way the style of play is different is in the number of shots taken, said Sergeant Leasher. The Americans are not afraid to take shots and miss. The Japanese are more timid in taking shots and tend to pass more. Towards the end of the season, the players started to adapt to each other's styles.

"Some teams started to change their style of play after the second or third time we played them," Sergeant Leasher explained. "It made for better games."

Like the Japanese style of play, the league itself was very professional. Before every game players lined up for equipment checks, and referees and coaches met to call the start of the game. After the game, both teams met at center field, shook hands and went to the opposing team's bench to bow and thank everyone who was there.

"It's always nice to play with the Japanese," said Jose Pumarejo, right midfielder on the team. "They are very friendly and place clean games. It's very sportsmanlike."

While the professionalism was nice, the language barrier presented some problems.

"The language barrier was fun to deal with," explained Sergeant Leasher. "We didn't know what they were saying most the time, but we were able to communicate a lot with hand signals. The only real problem was when there was a questionable call in our eyes and we couldn't ask why that call was made. But we were able to manage."

Despite the language barrier, the players were able to get along and play the game.

"We would joke around and laugh a lot on the field," Sergeant Leasher said. "At first we would just joke around with each other, but towards the end we were laughing and joking with the other teams. It really lightens things up when you can laugh."

While having a good time on the field the team was also able to perform well. They finished the season Nov. 1 with a record of 11:2:1, coming in first place for their division.

The tournament held Nov. 18 was a friendship tournament, a way of thanking those in the league.

"We would go off base to play our games, this time we wanted to bring the other teams on base," Sergeant Leasher said. "It was our way of saying thanks to those who played with us. It always puts a big smile on my face to play with those guys."

As for next year, Sergeant Leasher will leave before the season starts, but said he hopes it continues.

"We are really going to need a people who are dedicated to playing," he said. "The more the Japanese people enjoy playing with us, the better. It's a good way to build relationships and friendships."