THE influence of Japanese volleyball in the PVL is very much evident today with three head coaches and a lead consultant from the Land of the Rising Sun — Akari’s Taka Minowa, Petro Gazz’ Koji Tsuzurabara, and Farm Fresh’s Shota Sato and Hideo Suzuki.
Among the four, it’s Minowa who’s emerged the most successful. as the Chargers have now earned a semifinals seat in the 2024 PVL Reinforced Conference following a quarterfinals victory over the Foxies.
But one thing he pointed out was how it’s not just the Japanese brand of volleyball behind their pleasant surprise of an unbeaten run.
It’s the fusion of understanding Philippine play and integrating one key philosophy of Japanese volleyball to Akari that has made it the title contender is is now: discipline.
“I’m just doing the same thing that I did for the Japanese (national team), but I also know some parts of Filipino culture. That’s why maybe I think it’s better to fit on my system,” Minowa told SPIN.ph.
“Especially discipline. Maybe Filipinos cannot always be disciplined (on the court), but we need to push that kind of discipline and for them to understand. If it’s super hard for them to be disciplined, they cannot make it.”
Minowa then disputed blanket statements such as the “Japanese system,” as he cleared that while they all came from the same volleyball powerhouse nation, each coach’s system is still born out of personal experience.
“I think our systems are totally different, but I’m just worried about how more Japanese coaches are now lurking around,” he said in jest.
“I’m a former Japanese national team assistant coach. Farm Fresh’s coach was a former assistant coach, now a new head coach (who) just works with Farm Fresh only and Kurashiki. Tsuzurabara-san, he has a lot of experience. I think he’s working on Southeast Asian teams more than in Japan. All the coaches in Japan have totally different styles.”
Defense wins championships
Delving deeper, Minowa stated that strong regard for defense is at the core of Japanese volleyball.
And it’s one thing Minowa made sure his Akari wards will have a firm grasp of even before his head coaching debut with the Chargers began.
“Actually, especially in Southeast Asian or Asian countries, we need to have a good playing style and good defense,” he said.
“The main characteristic of volleyball is that we cannot drop the ball on our court. So for sure, defense is the most important.”
With only roughly three weeks of training before he debuted as Akari’s new tactician, Minowa saw to it to set his priorities straight on what he wants to achieve with the team.
“I’m always running at a standard level. If I can see that my Akari players can do it, I’ll just put in the tactical and technical (components),” he said.
“Now, we’re focused on how to make a team and make it as a team. I’m not gonna teach them technical (skills) and how to control their emotions. I just make the tactics and then, they just follow. That’s what’s most important now with Akari.”
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