Kumazawa Academy

**Kumazawa Academy** (Japanese: **熊沢学院** *Kumazawa* *Gakuin*) is a private school Hakodate, one of the biggest cities in the Hokkaido Prefecture. They are known as an elite school and has several sports clubs at a national level.

## Uniform

Kumazawa, like most Japanese schools, has a uniform and dress code. The male uniform consists of a white button-up shirt, steel blue tie, navy blue blazer, white cream-coloured pants and black leather shoes. The female uniform, meanwhile, consists of a matching button-up shirt, tie, and blazer with a navy blue plaid skirt and navy blue stockings.

The boys' volleyball club's uniform consists of a navy tracksuit with steel blue details. The members wear white gym shirts and navy shorts during practice matches and often don a steel blue sports bib on top. During official matches, the majority of players don a navy jersey and shorts with white and steel blue details. The libero has a contrasting jersey in white with navy and steel blue details.

If their opponents have a uniform that is similar to theirs in colour, then the players will wear a white jersey with steel blue shorts and navy details, while the libero will wear a steel blue jersey with white shorts and navy details.

## Volleyball Club

The Kumazawa Boys' Volleyball Club is a seasoned powerhouse, having reached the Top 8 consecutively for the last 10 years. Kumazawa's volleyball team is focused on three core tenets: receiving, blocking and endurance. As such, they are well-known for their height and exceptional defense; boasting the highest blocking rate in Japan. Because of this they are likened to a maxed-out version of Date Tech High. Like Date Tech, they specialise in read blocking, and they employ tactics such as the bunch shift, in which all three blockers bunch up in the middle of the court, stack blocking, in which all three blockers bunch up on one side of the court to mark the opposing Ace or another powerful spiker, and shading, in which two blockers bunch up in the middle and a third is deployed to the edge of the court, almost at the pin. According to Atsumu Miya, Kumazawa emphasises physical training and has the reputation of the most exhaustive training camps in Japan. Furthermore, it appears to be incredibly difficult to take a set from Kumazawa with Miya stating it is like "fighting a giant bear with your bare hands".

Kumazawa's current roster includes players such as Alexandre Durand, one of the top 3 aces in Japan and the team's captain Masanori Okamura. Kumazawa's immoveable defence is highlighted with the presence of Japan's no. 1 libero in Yuri Igarashi and their speedy defensive specialist Shūzo Kamei, as well as the team's infamous "Twin Towers", which consists of Takeru Matsumoto and Yusuke Takeuchi. The boys' volleyball club has several teams ranked by ability with the best labeled the "first team", followed by "second", and lastly "third".

## Training style

### Pool Training

Kumazawa uses pool training ahead of tournaments such as the Spring High in order to prevent their sports teams from gaining injuries. The training consists of regular footwork and muscle resistance training, while fully submerged or partially submerged in water.

### Beach Training

The beach training camp occurs in the summer before the Interhigh, where the Kumaza Boys' Volleyball Club First Team practice their regular training scheme at the beach. The sand increases the difficulty to move sand set plays, so every player is able to increase their muscle strength and endurance by playing beach volleyball. Furthermore, Kumazawa employs this training to improve player speed and movements by focusing on their movement and foot placement and positioning.

### Mountain Training

The mountain training camp happens in Iburi and consists of the players running and exercising by the mountains. By running on irregular terrains using their entire body, players are able to improve their balance and breathing due to the high altitude and rocky uneven terrains. This training camp usually occurs in the winter and players hike up the mountain peak every morning and night. Coach Morozov often orders the team to split up into two and have them race to the peak, whereby the winning team will be exempt from physical training after.

### Physical Training

Kumazawa Academy is notorious for their strong emphasis on physical training and boasts elite school grounds which includes: two olympic-sized swimming pools, three large sports fields, three gymnasiums and four training centres with a state-of-the-art gym. Every morning, on the day of practice, players undergo strength training which includes squats, deadlifts, kettlebell weight training, and several other muscle-building exercises.

## Practice Matches

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Inarizaki High School (2:0 / 31-29, 28-26)
* Kumazawa Academy vs **Inarizaki High School** (1:2 / 25-23, 19-25, 28-30)
* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Inarizaki High School (2:1 / 25-19, 26-24, 25-21)
* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Inarizaki High School (2:1 / 25-16, 27-29, 25-20)

## Kumazawa Academy Junior High

**Kumazawa Academy Junior High** (Japanese:  **熊沢学院中学校** *Kumazawa Gakuen Chūtō-bu*) is the middle school division of Kumazawa Academy.

### Boys' Volleyball Club

Just like its high school counterpart, the junior high Boys' Volleyball Club is considered the strongest team in Hokkaido Prefecture. They frequently take first place in tournaments.

## Spring High National Tournament (2013)

Kumazawa lost to eventual Spring High champions, Ichibayashi High, in a close 3-set match.

**Quarterfinal**

* Kumazawa vs **Ichibayashi High** [Fukuoka] (1:2 / 25-27, 25-21, 30-32)
* Their match was played on B court as the second match of the second day on said court.

## Spring High National Tournament (2014)

Kumazawa lost in the finals of the Spring High National Tournament and placing 2nd in the nation.

**First Round**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs ???? [????] (2:0 / 25-5, 25-7)

**Second Round**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Nekoma High [Tokyo] (2:0 / 25-11, 25-14)

**Third Round**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Mujinazaka High [Oita] (2:0 / 25-13, 25-15)
* Their Quarter-Final match was played on Court C.

**Quarterfinal**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Ichibayashi High [Fukuoka] (2:0 / 25-15, 26-16)
* Their third match was played on Court C.

**Semifinal**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Kamomedai High [Nagano] (3:1 / 25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 31-29)

**Final**

* Kumazawa Academy vs **Inarizaki High School** [Hyōgo] (2:3 / 18-25, 25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 13-15)
* Their match was played on Center Court.

## Spring High National Tournament (2015)

Kumazawa was the 1st seed and exempt from the first round. They ended up winning the 2015 Spring High National Tournament.

**Second Round**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Eiwa High [Miyazaki] (2:0 / 25-8, 25-11)
* Their first match was played on Court B.

**Third Round**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Inubushi Higashi High School [Oita] (2:0 / 25-14, 25-12)
* Their Quarter-Final match was played on Court C.

**Quarterfinal**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Inarizaki High School [Hyōgo] (2:0 / 25-21, 26-24)
* Their third match was played on Court C.

**Semifinal**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Itachiyama Institute [Kyoto] (3:0/ 25-22, 25-23, 30-28)

**Final**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs Karasuno High School [Miyagi] (3:1 / 25-18, 25-17, 26-28, 27-25)
* Their match was played on Center Court.

## Spring High National Tournament (2016)

...

**Final**

* **Kumazawa Academy** vs ??? (3:?/ ??)

## Trivia

* Kumazawa has participated in the Spring High tournament 12 times and this time is their 10th consecutive appearance.
* Kuma (**熊**) in Kumazawa translates to *bear*, and is a reference to the Ussuri brown bear, the largest animal found in Japan, and native to Hokkaido. While, the word sawa in Kumazawa (**沢**) translates to *valley*.
* The indigenous Ainu people worship the Ussuri brown bear, eating its flesh and drinking its blood as part of a religious festival known as Iomante.
* Kumazawa's motto is “*Accomplishment in both letters and arms*” (は文部両道なので *Wa Monbu Ryōdōnanode*), which means to excel at both studies and sports.
* Kumazawa's school banner is revealed to be "Overcome" (Japanese: 克服 *Kokufuku*).
* Kumazawa Academy is an international school and enrols a lot of foreign talent, and has many western influences in their education system. The school grounds also feature a western influence in their architecture. Kumazawa is also said to have delicious food in their cafeteria.
* The school grounds has multiple student dormitories that are separated by gender and age.
* Kumazawa's admission rates to top universities are high.
* The school has a total of 1200 students, including both its high school and junior high division.
* Kumazawa's head coach, Vladim Morozov, is a former professional volleyball player who represented Russia several times at the Olympics.
* Like most schools, Kumazawa reserves the number 1 for the team captain, but does not have a certain number reserved for the ace as Alexandre Durand wears the number 10 and the previous ace wore the number 4.
* Kumazawa Boys Volleyball Club's group data:

2. **Takeuchi** - 196.2 cm
3. **Durand** - 194.4 cm
4. Fukuda - 191 cm
5. Mikami - 189 cm
6. Kamei - 186.7 cm
7. Hara - 185.5 cm
8. Igarashi - 185.4 cm
9. Wakamatsu - 185.1 cm
10. Okamura - 182 cm
11. Tobita - 180.9 cm
12. Inui - 173 cm
2. **Takeuchi** - 95 kg
3. **Durand** - 88 kg
4. Mikami - 83.2 kg
5. Fukuda - 82.9 kg
6. Kamei - 78.2 kg
7. Okamura - 77.1 kg
8. Wakamatsu - 77 kg
9. Igarashi - 76.8 kg
10. Hara - 74 kg
11. Tobita - 71 kg
12. Inui - 68.4 kg
2. **Igarashi** - February 8th
3. **Okamura** - February 23rd
4. Matsumoto - March 30th
5. Inui - April 3rd
6. Takeuchi - June 15th
7. Wakamtsu - July 10th
8. Kamei - August 1st
9. Hara - September 7th
10. Durand - October 14th
11. Fukuda - October 28th
12. Mikami - December 12th

2. **Igarashi**
3. **Durand**
4. Inui
5. Matsumoto
6. Hara
7. Mikami
8. Fukuda
9. Okamura
10. Tobita
11. Wakamatsu
12. Takeuchi
2. **Takeuchi**
3. **Durand**
4. Okamura
5. Fukuda
6. Kamei
7. Mikami
8. Wakamatsu
9. Igarashi
10. Tobita
11. Inui
12. Hara
2. **Durand**
3. **Fukuda**
4. Inui
5. Okamura
6. Inui
7. Mikami
8. Igarashi
9. Tobita
10. Matsumoto
11. Wakamatsu
12. Kamei