The Japan Basketball Association has announced that it will establish a new league-style tournament in which eight top-class high schools in Japan, both men and women, will participate in order to improve the competitiveness of basketball in the high school generation.
In high school basketball, all three major national tournaments are held in a tournament format: the National High School Championships = "Inter-High", the National Athletic Meet, and the High School Championships = "Winter Cup".
However, in the tournament method, the number of games is limited except for the winning school and experience cannot be gained, so it is necessary to secure a certain number of games at the high school stage in order to strengthen and train players, the Japan Basketball Association Means that we will establish a new league-style tournament in which top-level high schools will participate.
The first league match is scheduled from August to the end of November, and will participate in the top results in national competitions such as Ohori High School attached to Fukuoka University for boys who won the Winter Cup last year and Okagakuen High School for girls. There are 8 schools for men and women who have left.
In Japanese basketball, while girls won the silver medal for the first time in history at the Tokyo Olympics, boys were eliminated from the qualifying league, and at the Paris Olympics two years later, girls will win gold medals and boys will aim for the best 8 at the world level. The challenge is to strengthen and train players to fight in the Olympic Games.
Yuko Mitsuya, Chairman of the Japan Basketball Association, commented, "We believe that continuous competitions will create a future Japanese basketball world that will excite the world, and we will take on the challenge of evolution."
The teams participating in the new league
The teams that will participate in the newly established league were decided based on the results of last year's national high school overall = "Inter-High" and the national high school championship = "Winter Cup".
For boys,
▽ Meisei High School attached to Sendai University in Miyagi Prefecture
▽ Maebashi Ikuei High School in Gunma Prefecture ▽
Masatomo Fukaya High School in Saitama Prefecture ▽
Teikyo Nagaoka High School in Niigata Prefecture that won second place in the Inter-High and Winter Cup
▽ Suwa High School attached to Tokai University in Nagano Prefecture
▽ Chubu University Daiichi High School in Aichi Prefecture that won the Inter-High School Championships
▽ Fukuoka Daiichi High School in Fukuoka Prefecture
▽ Ohori High School attached to Fukuoka University that won the Winter Cup
.
For girls,
▽ Showa Gakuin in Chiba Prefecture
▽ Tokyo Seitoku University High School in
Tokyo ▽ Meisei Gakuen in Tokyo
▽ Gifu Girls' High School in Gifu Prefecture ▽
Anjo Gakuen in Aichi Prefecture ▽ Sakuraka Gakuen
, which has won the Winter Cup for three consecutive
years ▽ Winter There are 8 teams in total, including
Kyoto Seitoku Gakuen in Kyoto Prefecture, which won the second place in the cup
, and Osaka Kaoru Eijo Gakuin in Osaka, which won the second place in the Inter-High
.
NBA Yuta Watanabe “What you can experience from high school is a plus”
Regarding the establishment of a league-style tournament for high school students, Yuta Watanabe, who plays in NBA = American professional basketball, the world's highest level of basketball, said, "You can experience league games from high school students when you go to the next level. I think, "he said.
On top of that, "When I was in the third year of high school, I was said to be a candidate for the championship, but both the Inter-High and the National Athletic Meet were eliminated in the qualifying. With only three big tournaments a year, I wanted to play more on this stage. I looked back on my experience.
And, "The goodness of the league match is that even if you lose the first match, you can play the next match at a high level, and even if you can't put out your strength in the first match, you can play it firmly in the next match. It's a big thing that high school students can experience, "he emphasized the significance of the league match.
Based on my experience of going to an American university and fighting in a college league match, "It was difficult to analyze whether the other team was in the scouting part, but now I am living a big life as a professional. I think it's a plus to have that kind of experience from high school. "
And for the future development of Japanese basketball, "I think that the teams that did not enter the league this time will improve their level aiming for that. The more competition there is, the stronger Japanese basketball will be, and now I think the most lacking part in Japan is competition. I think it will be absolutely necessary to compete in this league match in order to compete against the world, so I'd like to expect it. " rice field.