Children from second graders to high school juniors gather twice a week at Yokohama Rapport, where they do practices to compete in events such as the “Hama-Pic” scheduled for May. In the Nissan Cup Oppama Championship, which is one of the events that they aim for, the children ran to achieve their respective goals – completing the race, breaking their own record, and so on.

Start of the 2.5-kilometer race of the 2011 Nissan Cup;
the children in blue T shirts are
members of Yokohama La Strada Jr.

A member crossing
the finish line; did he
achieve his target?

Coach of Yokohama La Strada Jr. for 10 Years
Akira Kubota

Akira Kubota

The children I coach vary widely in age, from elementary school pupils to high school students. I sometimes have a hard time communicating my intentions to the children, and there has been a point of time where I felt coaching to be difficult. But, after repeating mistakes several times, I realized that showing the movements could convey my intentions to the children. Since then, I have become able to coach the children by using oral and body languages effectively while at the same time making them laugh and relax.
In the Nissan Cup, some children achieved their targets, while the others could not. But, watching all these children move their body spontaneously and strive positively to reach their targets makes me feel that my job is worthwhile. They tell me that competing with friends and meeting their targets are fun.

Members of Yokohama La Strada Jr. and their parents

The Italian words “La Strada” mean “the road” in English.
The children keep running on “the road” toward their goals.

– Contact information of Yokohama La Strada Jr.: TEL. 090-2243-3844 (Mr. Akira Kubota)

>> Feature Nextpage