Manabu Ishizaki: Focusing on Player Growth in Junior High School Baseball

National V5 degree… Toride Little Senior coach Manabu Ishizaki is focusing on “the growth of individual players”

Even with the same coach, there is a big difference between junior high school baseball and high school baseball. Manabu Ishizaki, the manager of Toride Little Senior, a junior high school baseball team in Ibaraki Prefecture, has led his team to number one in Japan five times. However, he emphasizes that even if he wins the national championship, “Nothing will change, unlike a high school baseball coach.”

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Coach Ishizaki, who has been in charge of the team since its formation in 2007, has won five national championships, but he treats his players with a mindset that is far from a victory-oriented mindset. Even if he becomes number one in Japan, he laughs and says, “Nothing will change.”

“As a coach, I may have had the desire to win when I first started the team.However, even though we won the national tournament in the third year after we founded it and became number one in Japan, I learned that they are the same.”

Coach Ishizaki feels that there is a big difference between junior high school baseball and high school baseball. If you win at Koshien, even people who don’t usually watch baseball will know the name of your high school and the coach. Keio, which won last summer’s Koshien, and Sendai Ikuei, which reached the top two years ago, were covered in the media every day, and the careers and comments of the coaches of both schools were reported in detail. Director Ishizaki speaks.

“Even if the seniors become number one in Japan, there are bound to be boys on some teams who don’t know the name of Toride Little Senior.Furthermore, there are very few people who are interested in coaching other teams. There are very few cases where being number one in Japan will give you an advantage in pursuing higher education or getting a job.”

What I look forward to more than winning is the growth of the players: “I don’t feel stressed even if I’m not very talented.”

Toride Little Senior has been at the top of the national tournament for three years in a row, from two years ago to this year. Although he is happy that the team has achieved results, he says, “I don’t think there are many people on other teams who understand that we have been number one in Japan for three years in a row.” “Rather than winning a championship, I’m more happy to see players who were reserve players on our team succeed after high school,” says Coach Ishizaki.

At Toride Little Senior, we regularly measure various numbers such as weight, body fat, jumping power, muscle strength, rotational speed of fastballs and amount of change in breaking balls. However, Coach Ishizaki does not compare the numbers he records with other players or previous teams.

“Depending on the year, there are times when a player’s ability is not very high, but I don’t feel stressed.The more room a player has for improvement, the more fun it is to feel their growth.” I feel fulfilled when I see that the numbers I measured have improved from six months ago, or that the distance I hit the ball with has increased.When I have many opportunities to see the growth of my players, the team will naturally be able to win.”

Because he is the most experienced player in Japan, his words, “Even if we win the national tournament, nothing will change” have a persuasive power. Coach Ishizaki’s eyes are not on the national top, but on the growth of individual players.

(Jun Aida)

2024-02-17 05:42:08
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