Day 25

[from Sapporo Lilies]

Today is my first day at my new job. I'm kinda nervous about it. Having to sit in this heavy traffic isn't really helping, either. I wanna just get there and get started, but instead I seem to be running into every red light from here to the training ground. As I wait at yet another one, I drum my fingers on the steering wheel impatiently, waiting for it to turn blue.

My job isn't exactly an ordinary job. Depending on who you ask, it's either completely unimportant, or the most important job in the world. My opinion, at least for now, is that it's just a job. However, since it's my job, I intend to do it to the best of my ability, and get the best results I can.

My job? I'm a soccer manager. Specifically, as of today, I'm the manager of the Sapporo Lilies women's soccer team. They're a relatively young club - this will be only their fifth season in the Nadeshiko League. They finished fifth out of the ten teams last season, and my job is to improve on that. I've had a look at some of the players in our squad this season, and on paper, that shouldn't be too difficult. But you can never be too sure in this profession.

The light finally changes, and as I pull away, I'm relieved to see a sign up ahead indicating that the training ground is now less than half a mile away. Despite all the traffic, I left home nice and early, so I should just get there on time now. Ready for the first day's training.

***

Sure enough, I arrive at the training ground with minutes to spare. Entering the car park, I soon come across a space that's reserved for the manager. Standing near it is the chairman, a well-dressed elderly man. I park up in what is now my space, and he greets me as I get out of the car.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr., uh… uhh…" He may be a kindly old man, but he's forgetful. I gently remind him of my name. [AUTHOR'S NOTE: At this point, you will be prompted to enter your own name. The default, and the name that will be used here, is Katsumi Moto.] "Ah, yes, that's it," he says, slapping his forehead. "Of course. My apologies, Mr. Moto." He shakes my hand, then gestures in the direction of the entrance. "Right this way."

The two of us head onwards into the training ground itself. "Are you excited to be getting started?" he asks me.

I nod. "Yep. I have a feeling this is going to be a good season."

"Well, let's hope so," he says. "A top three finish would be nice. I know you're not an experienced manager, so perhaps I can't ask that much of you, but I think I can at least expect that we'll steer clear of relegation, right?"

"With this squad," I tell him, "there's not a chance of that happening. We're finishing in the top half of the league again this season, for definite."

The man nods slowly. "Alright," he says, "I'll hold you to that."

He falls silent as we walk onto the training pitch. He stops on the touchline, watching the girls as they train, and I join him. They're truly remarkable athletes. A couple of them even won the Women's World Cup with the Japanese national team a few years back. Over at the far touchline, I can see Fiona Harrison, an English player who was one of the top women's players in her prime. She's in her twilight years now; rumour has it that this season will be her last. Signing her was still a major coup for us. Watching her, as she darts past another, significantly younger girl, it seems that even at the age of thirty-five, she still has plenty of her old talent left.

Eventually, it seems that the old man has had his fill. Nodding with satisfaction, he turns back to me. "Well, I've leave them in your capable hands, then," he says. "Your first match is in two weeks' time, at home… I think. I'm sure the club secretary will have the full schedule. For now, though, I must bid you adieu. Good luck, Mr. Moto." With that, he bows respectfully and takes his leave. Such a nice man. Forgetful, but nice.

I turn my attention to the matter at hand: the girls. Some of them have already noticed their presence, and have stopped their training to take a good look at me. I clap my hands loudly, calling out to them. "Alright, could you all come over here for a moment please? Thank you." One by one, the girls abandon their training for the time being and head over to greet their new manager for the first time. Their expressions are mixed: some of them are curious, some of them excited, one or two of them look a little annoyed. I hope that's just because I interrupted their training, and not for any personal reasons. They may have been expecting someone more experienced.

In any case, I had better introduce myself to them. "Hello," I say, bowing a little in respect. "As you may have already guessed, I'm your new manager. My name is Katsumi Moto. I hope we can all get along together, and accomplish great things during this coming season. Now, I'll let you all get back to your training for a minute, but for now I'd like to do a little game, just so I can get to know you all a little better."

"What is this, middle school?" objects one of the annoyed-looking ones. I'll admit, it is a little juvenile, but it's also convenient. For now, I just ignore her.

I turn to the girl closest to me, a short, rather energetic-looking girl. "Could you go fetch me a ball, please?" I ask her.

The girl nods. "Sure!" she says. She rushes off, retuning not ten seconds later with a brightly-coloured blue-and-white ball. "Here you go!" She lightly throws it to me, and I catch it. Putting it on the floor, I put one foot on the ball.

"Okay," I say, "now could you all gather around in a semi-circle for me, please? This'll only take five minutes." A couple of the girls roll their eyes, but they all do as I say, gathering around in a neat semi-circle in front of me. "Okay. Now, I'm gonna pass each of you the ball in turn, and I want you to tell me your name, position, and one fact about yourself. I know this is kinda juvenile-" There's a disgruntled mutter from the annoyed-looking girl that I don't quite catch. "-but it's a nice way for me to learn all your names, and learn a little about you, nice and quickly. Like I said, it'll only take five minutes. Okay, let's get started."

I pass the ball low down to the woman furthest to my left, an immensely tall foreign girl with flaming red hair. "Aliona Swarovska," she introduces herself, in a distinct Russian accent. "Goalkeeper. I once manage to score from other side of pitch." Her Japanese is a little broken. I'm guessing she hasn't been here too long. We'll have to brush up on that.

She passes it back, and I pass it on to the next player, a young-looking girl with short twintails. "Naomi Yamada. Left-back and centre-back. I actually wear glasses, but I put contacts in when I'm playing."

"You should save up for laser eye surgery," I suggest to her as she passes the ball back to me. "It'll be cheaper over the long-term."

"I am, yeah," says Naomi.

I pass the ball to the next player along. "Hinata Egami. Left-winger. In my spare time I work at my mother's flower shop."

Back to me, and on to the next player. "Rika Yasukawa. Right-winger. I have the fastest 100-metres time of anyone on the team."

On to the next player. "Ritsu Aoki. Right-back. My great-grandfather served on the Yamato during the Second World War."

As she passes the ball back to me, I can't help asking. "Did he make it?"

"Nope," says Ritsu. "Went down with the ship." Despite this, she seems rather proud of her ancestor having served on one of the greatest naval vessels ever assembled, perhaps understandably. "I'm sorry to hear that," I say, as I pass the ball on to the next girl. Ritsu merely shrugs; I guess she's not gonna be too distraught about someone who died forty or so years before she was born.

"Yuuko Sakurai," says the next woman along in the semi-circle. "Centre-back. I used to work in a maid café before becoming a footballer." I can't help but be surprised at this. Yuuko, as a centre-back, has rather a stocky build; not really the traditional frame for a maid. I'm guessing maybe she bulked up a little after switching to soccer.

On to the next player. "Yura Matsuki. Striker. I've taken six penalties for the team and I've never missed a single one. Oh, and I'm faster than Rika," she adds as she kicks the ball back to me.

Rika lets out an amused snort. "Dream on!" she says, grinning. I get the feeling there's a bit of a friendly rivalry between the two of them as to who is faster. I pass the ball on to the next woman in line, a silver-haired girl who appears to have been staring at me intensely for the entire time, as though analyzing me.

"Yuuka Noda. Right-back. I can solve a Rubik's Cube in under 30 seconds." Wow. That's impressive. I can solve them alright, but it takes me a while. Yuuka passes me the ball back, and I pass it to the next player along, a very short, cute-looking girl with bright pink hair.

"I'm Konoko Ono!" she introduces herself cheerfully. "I'm a central and attacking midfielder. I'm the only player in the squad who's never been booked! Well… apart from Ichiko," she hastily adds, before passing it back.

Next up is the annoyed-looking girl who'd objected previously to the exercise. She still looks annoyed, and I notice that a couple of the other girls look a little apprehensive as she traps the ball beneath her boot, as though afraid of what she might say.

"Suzume Kuroi," she says. "Centre-back. With all due respect… I think you're a poor choice of manager."

The entire training ground falls silent as Suzume delivers her criticism of me. From the looks of it, it seems the other girls were well aware that Suzume felt this way; some of them cast anxious glances in my direction, as though afraid that she may have hurt my feelings. In truth: yes, I may not be the best man for the job. There are better, more experienced managers out there. But there has to be a reason that I was picked, and not them. So even if Suzume doesn't believe in me, I'll believe in myself, and hopefully I can convince her over time that I'm perfectly qualified to coach her.

Konoko turns to Suzume, looking a little hurt. "You can't say that to him!" she complains. "You'll hurt his feelings!"

"I don't care," snaps Suzume.

"But-"

 "It's okay, Konoko," I say hurriedly, before this escalates into a full-blown argument. The last thing I need is an inter-team split just five minutes after I've walked in the door. "Suzume," I say gently, "I appreciate your honesty. I hope I can justify the chairman's decision to you over the course of this season."

Suzume snorts, and passes the ball back to me. The next woman along needs no introduction, but I pass it to her anyway. "Fiona Harrison," she says, her pronunciation perfect. "Central midfielder. I plan to retire at the end of this season, so I'd like to go out on a high, if possible." No pressure there, then.

On to the next player. "Natsume Kawashima. Left and central midfielder. I was almost a pro baseball player before choosing soccer instead. Oh, and I'm suspended for the first game of the season. Just so you know." So I effectively have a squad of eighteen to work from for the first game. With a squad this small, you have to really hope nobody gets injured.

On to the next player, a girl who I assume to be South Korean. The moment she gives her name, the assumption is proved correct. "Kyung-Soon Choi. Centre-back. My second cousin is actually a popular actor back home in South Korea."

Only a few players left now. "Tomoko Satoya," says the next woman, who I also recognize. "Right-winger. I was part of the starting eleven when we won the Women's World Cup a few years back." I nod in acknowledgement as she side-foots the ball back to me.

"Yui Blake," says the next woman. "Striker. I was the team's top scorer last season."

"Sanae Yamamoto," says the next woman. "Striker. I was the team's top scorer the season before that, and also won Goal of the Season."

Only two players left now. Next up is our other goalkeeper; she's not quite as tall as Aliona, but still tall by Japanese standards. "Miyuki Morishita. Goalkeeper. Uhh… umm…" She rubs the back of her head nervously. "I'm sorry, I can't think of anything!"

A couple of the girls sigh wearily. "You've had all this time to think of something," I point out.

"I know, I'm sorry!" she says apologetically. "Uhh… can I just pass and get back to you?"

"Sure." Miyuki passes me the ball, her face flushing bright red, and I pass it on to the last girl, the one who'd handed me the ball to start with.

"I'm Ichiko Umeki," she says. "I'm a striker. I've just graduated from the local academy and this is my first season of first-team soccer. I look forward to working with you all!" She bows low, then passes the ball back to me one last time. I crouch down and pick it up.

"Okay, thank you all," I say. "I should remember your names now, hopefully. For now, I want you to go about training as you did before; within the next few days I'll try and draw up a new training schedule and hopefully put that in place before our first match. Our target this season is to finish in the top half of the division again; optimistically, we should be looking at the top three. With the quality we have here-" I can't help glancing at Fiona and Tomoko as I say this -"I have no doubt we can do very well this year, and in years to come. Alright, as you were."

I throw the ball back to Ichiko, and she and the other girls go off to resume their training activities, with the exception of one. Hinata stays behind for some reason.

"What is it, Hinata?" I ask.

"Do you really think we can make the top three this year?" she asks, sounding a little surprised by my assessment.

"Sure I do," I tell her. "That's what the chairman thinks, and I dare say he knows you all better than I do. I have faith in him, and I have faith in you guys."

A little spark lights up in Hinata's eyes as I reaffirm my belief in my players. Truth be told, it's a blind belief. I haven't the slightest idea what this bunch of players before me is really capable of. But if they believe they can win, they will win, and they won't believe that if I don't believe it. So right now, I have to get them to believe in me, and in themselves. Even Suzume.

"Thank you, Mr. Moto!" says Hinata. "I'll try my best!" With that, she heads off to join her team-mates. I'm sure she'll try her best this season. I certainly will.