People :
Women's Association Football (Soccer) Club Leader
Ms. Kana Watanabe

Born in 1984 in Miyagi Prefecture, Watanabe graduated from the Seiwa Gakuen Private High School. Currently a senior in the School of Sport Sciences, she belongs to Prof. Katsuo Yamazaki's seminar. Representing Waseda in the Women's Universiade (2003, 2005) and Tokyo National Athletic Games (2003), she holds a forward position on the team. Her hobbies include shopping and watching movies.

Last year, the Waseda University Women's Association Football Club achieved its long cherished desire for victory since its establishment 15 years ago. This season, they have absolutely no losses. The key player leading this powerful team is none other than Miss. Watanabe.

“I started soccer because of my brother. As I frequently went to my brother's soccer matches, I naturally started to love soccer.” Kicking the ball since kindergarten, in elementary school she joined the girls' soccer team organized by their headmaster. In fourth grade, she signed up for a local sports group that taught both boys and girls. Since there were no girls' soccer team in middle school, she had to join the boys' team, which she describes as a positive experience: “There was something missing when practicing only for the girls' team, so probably playing soccer with the boys was a big plus.”

Watanabe's ambitious attitude jumping into any kind of environment if it meant she could play a higher level of soccer is probably what created the current leader in her. Finally joining a girls' soccer team in high school, she managed to conquer the whole nation in only two years. “In high school, I was able to play soccer very freely. I chose Waseda to play soccer since the senior-junior relationships did not seem too strict and the team had a big potential of becoming stronger.” Last year's winners became this year's target, but the Waseda soccer team seems to show absolutely no symptoms of pressure that normally accompanies the title of a defending champion.

Having played in many positions until now, “Being forward is the most fun. It feels so good when I win a point exactly as I had simulated my play.” On playing abroad, she coolly states, “Japanese players should learn to play some rough soccer just like foreign players”. When asked if she had ambitions to play professionally overseas, she declares that she would like to “play soccer only in university and continue playing it as a hobby in the future.” Her current wishes are to find work related to the advancement of women's soccer. These words ring true when uttered by a person like Miss Watanabe, who has played soccer in its true essence.