[Unit Project 1] Riko's Precious Artifact

    My artifact is tennis racket. This is the racket used by players to play soft tennis and hit ball. The avant-garde and rear rackets have different functions. I used racquet for the avant-garde position. This racket is made by YONEX which manufacture and sale of sporting bland. This racket's color is yellow and little black and white. My tennis racket is length of about 60cm. 

 

my artifact

    I played soft tennis for a long period of time, from the 5th year of elementary school to the fall of my first year of high school. I have several soft tennis rackets, but I have been using this racket since junior high school. I have many fond memories of this sport and this racket.

    I bought my soft tennis racket at a sporting goods store when I was in the 5th year of elementary school. At the time, I started with a simple desire to move my body. Soft tennis is a difficult sport for beginners. So many times I almost failed.

    "I want to stop playing soft tennis! It's too difficult for me." I said. I lamented to my mother many times.

    But my mother said, "Go for it! Be stronger!"

She encouraged me over and over again. Without her words, I would not have continued this sport for a long time. From there, I continued to practice and was able to participate in competitions. However, I was not able to achieve any results at that time.

    When I entered junior high school, I continued to practice soft tennis. I practiced every day with the goal of competing in the national tournament. There were many things that went wrong, but I was able to overcome them thanks to my teammate. In my first year of junior high school, I could not make it as a member of a team and could not achieve any individual results. I thought to myself, "I can't go on like this! I want to win more!" I swung the racket repeatedly. But it was not going well.

    Then an opportunity presented itself.

My coach said to me, "Why don't you try your luck as a vanguard?"

After a few moments, I answered, "I would like to try it,"

From there, I started to train hard as a vanguard. At first, I did not do well at all. I didn't know what was right and what was left. I was warned over and over again, and my heart was broken. However, unlike when I was in elementary school, I did not give up. As a result, I was selected as a member of a group. I remember how happy I was. However, I was not able to contribute to the team.

    I became the third year of junior high school student. My most memorable time with this racket was when I was in the third grade of junior high school student. I became the most senior student and had a lot of responsibility after my seniors graduated. In the team competition, we had to beat our rival schools. If we lost the individual competition, it would be the end of our junior high school club activities.The team worked together and put a lot of effort into practice. My pair supported me even when I was about to lose under pressure.

    She said, "Let's work hard together. You can do it."

We continued to win in the district and prefectural tournaments both as a group and as individuals, and were able to participate in the Hokushinetsu tournament. I was able to contribute to the team. I was so happy that I cried. Although we did not make it to the national tournament, it was a great experience for me. I learned that if you don't give up, results will come.

 

    The competitive landscape for soft tennis and hard tennis is very different. While hard tennis has world tournaments such as Grand Slams and is selected as an Olympic sport. However, soft tennis has no world tournaments and is not selected as an Olympic sport. Soft tennis is played mainly in Asia. These similar competitions are very different.

    In recent years, the burden on teachers responsible for coaching club activities has become a significant problem. In Japan, teachers provide guidance for club activities. This has resulted in a severe working environment for teachers. This is a culture peculiar to Japan, but in other countries, club activities differ from those in Japan. For example, in Germany, school basically ends in the morning, and there are no club activities like in Japan. The main sports venues in Germany are sports clubs. These sports clubs are what Japan calls NPOs. Children from different schools and of different ages play sports together. In Japan, club activities are "gymnastic" or have a "senior/junior system" and children do not feel that they can genuinely enjoy sports. But in German sports clubs, they will be able to genuinely enjoy sports. In addition, since club activities are not organized by the schools, the working environment for teachers can be expected to improve.