In order to improve the competitiveness of basketball in the high school generation, a newly established league-style tournament in which eight top-class high schools in Japan for both men and women participate has started.
Two women's matches were held on the 27th, and top-level schools in Japan competed against each other, including Kyoto Seika Gakuen, which won the overall high school championship.
This top league was newly established this year to increase the number of games that can be experienced and improve competitiveness by changing the tournament format that has been held so far for high school students to a league format.
Eight men's and women's teams selected based on the results of last year's national tournament will participate in the league, and will compete in a round robin to compete for ranking. A match was played.
Of these, in the match between Kyoto Seika Gakuen, which won the national high school overall this year, and Tokyo Seitoku University High School, which was the best 8 in last year's high school championship, Tokyo Seitoku University High School led a big 27 to 13 in the first quarter. did.
However, Kyoto Seika Gakuen won the first match with a score of 84-72 after scoring many goals with offense under the goal led by Japan under 17 player Yuka Yagi.
After the match, Yagi said, "I think the league match is a good opportunity to find out what we need to do by playing against top-level teams. Today we had a weakness in our defense in the early stages, so I want to make the most of it next time." rice field.
The men's match will start next month in the top league, and the final match for both men and women will be held at Yoyogi 2nd Gymnasium in Shibuya, Tokyo in November this year.
League format and tournament format
Basketball for the high school generation consists of three major national tournaments: the All-Japan Inter-High School Championships, the National Athletic Meet, and the Winter Cup, the high school championship.
However, in the tournament system, the number of games is limited and it is not possible to accumulate experience except for schools that advance to the top. A new “Top League” has been established, with eight teams each for men and women.
He hopes that the league-style tournament will lead to flexibility in tactics to match the opponents, elimination of disparities in players' playing time, and improvement in the skills of coaches and referees.
Shinji Watanabe, deputy secretary-general of the Japan Basketball Association, said, "If we were able to accumulate experience in matches at the national level, it would lead to better strengthening, but this could not be achieved in tournament-style competitions. League matches are of a high level. I think that doing multiple things will lead to the improvement of the team and players,” he pointed out the merits of league games.
Even in the opening match on the 27th, the team's coach praised the new league, saying, ``I think we can give the backup members a lot of playing time because it is a league match.''
On the other hand, it has been pointed out that the widening disparity in competitiveness between schools that can participate in the league and other schools, and that high school club activities, which also have educational aspects, can lead to excessive meritocracy. The president said, ``In addition to the top league, we would like to develop league matches in each region and league matches in prefectures in the future, and consider exchange matches between leagues. I don't have any, so I want to increase the opportunities for players to demonstrate the results of their efforts with their friends."