The men's volleyball club team season will finally begin next month. We have compiled a list of players who will be active overseas, especially in European club teams, this season.
Italy
Yuki Ishikawa (Power Valley Milano)
26 years old, 191cm, outside hitter
Seijo High School → Chuo University → Modena → Latina → Siena → Padua → Milan
Ishikawa Yuki is no longer a stranger to Italy. This will be his eighth season in Italy and his third season in Milan.
Last season, he played a key role in the team's success, helping them reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals and 5th place in the regular round. However, he was unable to produce results in the playoffs and the 5th place match, and the team finished in 9th place.
This season we would like to continue to advance in the Coppa Italia and finish at least in the top five in the league to qualify for next season's Europa League.
In addition, two new powerful outside hitters, Ebadipour (Iran) and Melgarejo (Cuba), have joined the team this season, so the competition for starting positions is likely to be tougher than last season, but with Ishikawa, who is highly trusted by manager Piazza, there should be no problem.
Team official website (Japanese):https://powervolleymilano.tokyo/
Ai Takahashi (Pallavolo Padua)
21 years old, 188cm, outside hitter
Higashiyama High School → Nippon Sport Science University → Padua
Takahashi Ai will continue to play for Padova this season, as she did last season.
Last year, you joined the team after the All Japan Intercollegiate Championships, but this season, you seem to be joining the team from the start. Good, good.
Last season, Takahashi played mostly as a libero, not as an outside hitter. His receiving, connecting and serving skills are impeccable, so the key to earning a spot in the starting lineup will be how he can demonstrate his offensive power, which is still an issue for him. His main competitors for the position will likely be Asparuhov (Bulgaria) and Gardini (Italy), but I hope he can demonstrate his potential, which surpasses their height.
As for the team, they were on the verge of relegation last season, so this season they will be hoping to finish the regular round in the top eight and qualify for the playoffs.
Official team website (Italian):https://www.pallavolopadova.com/
How to watch the Italian League, match schedules, etc.
The Italian LeagueVolleyball World TVAll games will be streamed live and archived on Volleyball World TV. For more information on Volleyball World TV, please see the following article.
The schedule for each of the first matches is as follows:
Milan: October 2nd (Sun) 18:00~ (1:00am Japan time) vs Latina
Padua: Saturday, October 1st 20:30~ (3:30am Japan time) vs Modena
You can check the schedule for the second and subsequent matches on the official Italian League website. Since the match times in the Italian League tend to change at the last minute, we recommend that those who plan to watch a match check the match dates and times frequently.
Italian Serie A official website (Italy/UK):https://www.legavolley.it/?lang=en
Match Schedule page:https://www.legavolley.it/calendario/?Anno=2022&IdCampionato=875&lang=en
Poland
Kento Miyaura (Star Nisa)
23 years old, 190cm, opposite
Chinzei High School → Waseda University → JTEKT → NISA
Miyaura (formerly of JTEKT) came to the Polish league in place of Sekita (currently with JTEKT), who played for Lubin in Poland last season.
When Nishida returned to JTEKT, I was worried about what would happen to Miyaura, but I think it was good that he ended up coming to the Polish league. However, since the opposite of Nisa is Bentala (Tunisia), the team's absolute ace and one of the best scorers in the Polish league, it may be difficult for him to get a chance to play. Still, this will definitely lead to his growth rather than being content with being a reserve for JTEKT.
However, just like Rubin, where Sekita played, Nisa is also a lower-ranked team in the Polish league. The league matches will be very tough, but let's hope to see more of Miyaura's play in Poland!
Official team website (Polish):https://www.stalnysa.pl/
Sho Takahashi (Norvid Czestochowa)
27 years old, 171cm, Libero
Kasukabe Kyoei High School → Daito Bunka University → Saitama Azalea → Altainbars (Mongolia) → Lublin (Poland) → Lakkapaa (Finland) → Czestochowa
This is the second division of Poland, and Sho Takahashi is playing there this season. Although he has no experience playing for a top team in Japan, he has been playing in European leagues in recent years.
Although Poland's second division is the second division, the level is high and the training environment seems to be good. Poland is a volleyball powerhouse after all.
His previous club, Lublin, subsequently achieved promotion to the first division, so there will be hopes that he can lead his team to promotion this time as well.
Official team website (Polish):https://ksnorwidczestochowa.pl/
How to watch the Polish League, match schedule and more
The Polish First Division is available for paid streaming on the following websites:
https://polsatboxgo.pl/start(Polish)
However, it can only be viewed on devices accessed from within Poland, so if you want to watch it from Japan, you will need to use a separate VPN software to disguise your access from Poland (INordVPN(We use the following.)
It also seems that some browsers are not compatible (I'm viewing it on Edge).
As you can see, watching the Polish league is more difficult than watching the Italian league. If there is a demand, I will create a separate page to explain.
The schedule for the first match of Nisa, the team Miyaura belongs to, is as follows.
Sunday, October 2nd 20:30~ (3:30am Japan time) vs Suwalki
Polish First Division official website:https://www.plusliga.pl/
Not all games from the second division are broadcast on the same site, although they are not available.
Polish Second Division official website:https://www.tauron1liga.pl/
Germany
Satoshi Ide (Berlin Recycling Valley)
30 years old, 174cm, Libero
Omura Technical High School → Toa University → Toray → Frankfurt → Berlin
Before Yamamoto took over as the regular libero for the Japanese national team, Ide moved to Germany in 2020 and played for two seasons with Frankfurt, where Yanagida and Otake also previously belonged, until last season. Starting this year, he will play for Berlin, a top club in Germany.
Berlin is the absolute champion of the German league, having won six consecutive championships, except for the season that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also a strong team that participates in the European Champions League, the highest level of European leagues, every time and has almost always achieved a top eight or better result. It is exciting to see Japanese players playing in the European Champions League.
Also, many liberos from this club have transferred to strong teams in Italy and Poland, so depending on Ide's performance, he may even play against Ishikawa and Takahashi in Italy next season.
However, her registered name is TSUIKI and not Ide, so I wonder if her name changed after she got married. If anyone knows more about this, I would appreciate it if you could let me know.
Team official website (UK, Germany, etc.):https://www.berlin-recycling-volleys.de/
How to watch the German league, match schedules, etc.
You can watch the German League on the following website:
https://sportdeutschland.tv/volleyball-bundesliga
The first match in Berlin
Sunday, October 9th 16:00~ (23:00~ Japan time) vs Munich
Bundesliga official website:https://www.volleyball-bundesliga.de/cms/home/1_bundesliga_maenner.xhtml
You can also watch the European Champions League on the Youtube channel of the European Volleyball Federation (CEV). In some cases, it may be available only to members, but it is cheap at 490 yen per month.
https://www.youtube.com/c/CEVolleyball/featured
Romania
Shunsuke Watanabe (Dinamo Bucharest)
34 years old, 181cm, Libero
Fukaya High School → Juntendo University → Toray → Eldmann (Germany) → Voreas Hokkaido → Dinamo Bucharest
Watanabe, who played for Toray Arrows and Voleas Hokkaido in Japan, will play in Bucharest, Romania this year, marking his second time playing for an overseas club after Germany's Erdmann.
Bucharest was the second-placed team in the league last season, and has been selected to compete in the Europa League CEV Cup this season. The club has also acquired two Cuban players this season, and is determined to win the title.
Watanabe, 34, is the oldest member of the team. I think he is quite a veteran among volleyball players playing in Japan. He was an outside hitter at Fukaya High School, one of the two setters at Juntendo University, and later became a libero, making him an all-rounder with a strong impression of passion.
These days, it's not uncommon for volleyball players to continue playing beyond the age of 40, so I hope she continues to advance her career from here!
How to watch the Romanian League, match schedule and more
According to the league's website, the broadcast can be viewed on the Facebook page below.
https://www.facebook.com/frvolei/
Dinamo Bucharest's first match of the season will be the Super Cup semi-final, which will start at 4pm on September 26th (10pm Japan time)!
Romanian League official website:https://frvolei.eu/
Finland
Keisuke Matsuo (Savo Valley)
26 years old, 170cm, Libero
Saga Gakuen High School → Tsukuba United → Oita Miyoshi → Hapoel Kfar Saba (Israel) → Savo Valley
He played for Oita Miyoshi for two seasons from 2019 to 2021. Finland's Savo Valley, where he will play next season, is the team that Nose (currently with Great Bears Tokyo) from Japan played for last season. They are a strong team that finished first in the Finnish Cup and second in the league. This season, they will also be participating in the CEV Cup.
Former Japanese national team player Taichiro Koga also rose through the professional ranks from Finland to France and Poland, so I hope he will also take the next step from here.
By the way, this player is from the same hometown as me and was my junior in elementary and junior high school (although I have never met him), so he is a player I am paying close attention to. Good luck!!
Official team website (in Finnish):https://www.savovolley.fi/
How to watch the Finnish league, match schedule and more
I don't know how to watch the Finnish league. If anyone knows, please let me know!
The opening match will take place on Friday, October 7th at 18:30 local time (1:30 the next morning Japan time).
summary
Above are the seven players who will be playing in overseas leagues this season. There are also several female players playing (mostly in the French league).
However, I feel that Ishikawa Yuki has had a huge impact on the number of Japanese players playing overseas and in Europe. He made it the norm for volleyball players to play overseas or in Europe, and made the Italian and Polish leagues places to aim for as players other than those representing Japan.
Yuki Ishikawa is truly great. In that sense, he is a treasure of Japan.
There are also a lot of libero players. Personally, I think that Japanese liberos are at a very high level, so even if they can't make the starting lineup in the V-League, there is a good chance they can play for a top club overseas.
I hope that we will continue to see more and more Japanese players playing for top teams around the world!
Photo: Liga Pallavolo Serie A
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