Vissel Kobe coach Tomo Sugawara, center, observes Department of Defense Education Activity high school students practicing posession training at Ryukyu Middle School at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Young soccer players from two Defense Department high schools on Okinawa trained recently with the coaches of Japan’s top-rated professional team.

About 45 students from Kadena and Kubasaki high schools learned tips and tricks from the leaders of Vissel Kobe, champions for two years running of Japan’s premier J1 professional league. The workshop took place Friday afternoon on a soggy field at Kadena’s Ryukyu Middle School.

Rain had threatened to move the session indoors but held off long enough for the students to receive hands-on instruction from the six coaches. Vissel Kobe’s players arrived afterward for a photo with the students.

Before the workshop, Kadena junior Elijah Whip said he was looking forward to seeing “what the coaches expect from a higher-level team — kind of like the level they play at, how they expect players to play in that system.”

Vissel Kobe head coach Tomo Sugawara controls a ball during a practice with Defense Department high school players at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

Defense Department high school soccer players warm up for a training session with Japanese professional coaches from Vissel Kobe at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

The session began with a warmup exercise, followed by a four-versus-two rondo, or training drill, Vissel Kobe head coach Tomo Sugawara told Stars and Stripes. Then the coaches worked with the players on ball possession in a three-on-three configuration.

Finally, they played a short game with everyone using the full field and two balls “because there were a lot of people,” Sugawara said.

“I felt that both boys and girls had a good spirit of challenge,” he said. “They were very aggressive with the ball, and they seemed to be enjoying it from the bottom of their hearts.”

The language barrier didn’t seem to be a problem for the coaches or the American students.

“I really like the camaraderie that I’m seeing with all of the coaches,” Kadena girls varsity coach Charley Smith said while watching her players on the field. “Even though we don’t speak the same language, I’m impressed that they can still have their skills shine through all of this.”

Kubasaki sophomore Reina Eastman was wearing a Vissel Kobe jersey featuring Spanish midfielder Andrés Iniesta, who played with the team from 2018-23. She said the jersey belonged to her father, Kubasaki girls varsity coach Chris Eastman.

Defense Department high school soccer players warm up for a training session with Japanese professional coaches from Vissel Kobe at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

Vissel Kobe soccer coaches greet Defense Department high school players during a training session at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Jan. 24, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

Reina Eastman said the coaches emphasized speed during the session, and she hopes to use that in the upcoming DODEA Pacific soccer season, which begins Feb. 15 and runs through May.

Some of the drills the coaches introduced were different from what she was used to, as well.

“The warmup was definitely different. I’ve never done something like that,” she said. “They told us to do ‘shark,’ and then we were supposed to run quickly in different directions.”

Vissel Kobe is on Okinawa along with eight other J1 teams for a preseason training camp through Saturday at Nishihara town, according to the team’s website. The J1 season also begins in February.

This was the first time a professional Japanese team trained with kids at a Department of Defense Education Activity school on Okinawa, regional athletic director Tom McKinney told Stars and Stripes before the session.

U.S. Consulate General Naha helped organize the session, DODEA-Pacific chief of staff Todd Schlitz said on the field as the session was getting underway.

“What better to do on a Friday afternoon than bring some professional athletes in to hang out with our kids and show them some stuff,” he said.