Shinya Tabira: Rikkyo Basketball & Japan National Team Journey

It can be said that they are one of the teams that made great strides in this tournament. At the 77th All-Japan University Basketball Championship (Intercollegiate), Rikkyo University advanced to the top eight for the first time on the women’s side. Although the team was unable to advance to the semi-finals, which was their goal, captain Shinya Tabira (4th year, Showa Gakuin) said, “I feel lucky to have been able to play basketball for four years at Rikkyo University.”

Embodying the Rikkyo style of having fun from the beginning

In the quarterfinal match against the University of Tsukuba, Rikkyo University started out at the pace. The shots were interesting, and Tabira himself sank four 3-pointers. “Starting off has always been an issue since the league game, but since it was a game where we were in the top four, something new to us, we went into the game with the mindset of “Let’s enjoy it from the get-go and try to be like Rikkyo.” The first quarter (Q) ended at 32-19. However, from the 2nd quarter onwards, they showed their strength, narrowed the score difference, and made it back. Rikkyo University struggled against the opponent’s fierce defense and finished the game with a score of 71-87.

Even if they make a mistake or don’t make a free throw, they hear a positive voice and create an atmosphere of “Has that ever happened?” Rikkyo University is a bright team. What worked in the right direction and brought results was the match against Yamanashi Gakuin University the day before, with a place in the top eight on the line.

When the opposing international student center has the ball, they respond with double teams, and are also cautious of the 3-point points that Yumeko Fujisawa (4th year, Gifu Women’s) is good at. True to Tabira’s words, “We’ll work hard on transitions (switching between offense and defense) and rebounding from the beginning,” everyone showed off Yamanashi Gakuin University’s offensive measures that they had been working on for the past month. In the 3rd quarter, the team briefly allowed a comeback, but the team shared the mindset that “if we’ve come this far, we’ll win as long as we have fun.” Tabira’s 3-pointers began to come together, and after successfully reversing the game, he withstood Yamanashi Gakuin University’s all-court defense. 68-62. After the victory was decided and the greetings were over, the substitute players also rushed onto the court and hugged each other.

Candidate for captain out of a desire to give back to Rikkyo

“My life changed when I entered Rikkyo University.” Tabira summarizes the four years he spent at university as follows. His father was from Rikkyo, and when he visited the Ikebukuro campus as a child, he instinctively thought, “It’s so sparkling and amazing. I want to join here.” When he was in elementary school, he wanted to go to Rikkyo University, and Tabira said, “My love is stronger than anyone else (lol).” He took classes at his dream campus, Ikebukuro, and then moved to the Niiza campus to practice basketball. As he approached his final year, he decided to run for the captaincy position, something he had never done before, out of a desire to repay Rikkyo for all the support it had given him.

At the end of my second year at university, I had a fateful encounter. After participating in the street basketball tournament “TOKYO STREETBALL CLASSIC” (TSC), he received a message from Katsura Aoi (currently Toyota Boshoku Sunshine Rabbits), who founded the 3×3 team “ZOOS”. “She’s strong, she’s cute, and it was fun to play against her.” I replied, “I admire her,” and they decided to go out for dinner, and she invited her to ZOOS. I was so happy.

After starting to work on 3×3, he was selected for the U21 Japan national team for two consecutive years starting in his third year of university. Although he thought, “It was thanks to Rikkyo University that I was able to play for the national team,” he also revealed that there were times when he left the team, and it was difficult to adjust and coordinate the team’s basketball efforts.

“I don’t have a high basketball IQ, so once I started playing three-man, I often forgot about the five-man system or the university system when I came back…I think I caused a lot of trouble in those situations, but my teammates were able to follow me, so I’m grateful.”

“Become an athlete who can influence others”

This year, the team was also faced with a change in manager at the beginning of the season. “At that time, I had a lot of conflicts with my juniors because of our different ways of thinking about the team. I overcame this by talking with my classmates.” Many of their juniors entered the school admiring the “basketball skills of using their head and spinning the ball neatly” that Tahira and his team had cultivated, and they achieved good results, taking second place at the rookie inter-college competition in July of this year. At the meeting after losing to Tsukuba University, Tabira said this to his teammates.

“I think Rikkyo University can become even stronger and is a team that can aim for the top, so I hope they can overcome this frustration from next year onwards.”

The team won the Kanto University League Division 1/2A replacement match this fall, and will play in Division 1 next year for the first time in two years. Tahira, who is full of love for Rikkyo, leaves behind the souvenir of being promoted to Division 1, entrusting his dream of making it to the intercollegiate top four to his juniors, and pursuing a new dream: “I want to become a player who can influence people and bring a breath of fresh air.”