Different uniforms, same players as Okinawa athletes compete in Japan

Shisa VC’s Yuri Biggins blasts a spike against Seisen’s Pipi Hill during Thursday’s Day 1 play in the 11th ASIJ YUJO volleyball tournament. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

TOKYO – Could this be the last weekend they suit up to play volleyball this season?

Sara Mei Fussinger and Yuri Biggins each say they hope not.

But times being what they are, with the government shutdown and its impact on high school athletics, the senior spikers say they’re hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.

“I’ve thought about it. Me and my teammates have talked about it,” Fussinger said Thursday at the opening day of the American School In Japan YUJO Tournament. “It’s pretty sad. I’m disappointed about the timing of it and had it been any other time” it might have been OK.

Fussinger and her teammates are playing in the 11th iteration of the YUJO as the Shogun volleyball club of Okinawa. She and her Shogun teammates also play for Kadena, but high school sports teams and other activities are shuttered during government shutdowns. So they’re paying their own way as allowed under DODEA rules.

Biggins and her Shisa VC teammates are in the same boat, having to play as a club instead of representing Kubasaki.

And with the DODEA-Pacific Far East Division I tournament theoretically just two weeks away, Biggins, Fussinger and their respective teammates expressed concern that the government might not be reopened in time.

“Obviously, we are worried,” Biggins said. She took Far East Division I Best Hitter honors for a host Kubasaki team that finished second to Academy of Our Lady of Guam a year ago.

Shogun VC’s Sara Mei Fussinger spikes against Christian Academy Japan’s Gloria Wang during Thursday’s Day 1 of the 11th ASIJ YUJO volleyball tournament. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Despite the shutdown and the fear that Far East championships might not happen, Biggins says she and her Shisa VC teammates are pressing ahead, using the YUJO as preparation should the government reopen and the high school season resume.

“We’re still going to play hard with Far East as our goal,” Biggins said. “Same people, same team. YUJO is part of the process (of) winning Far East.”

Shisa and Shogun each took the top seeds in their respective pools on Day 1 of the YUJO, and along with host and defending champion ASIJ were considered favorites entering the two-day single-elimination playoff starting Friday.

“I know we have the potential to win the tournament,” Fussinger said. “It’s confidence and trust that we need to work on. That’s an important part” of how the YUJO factors into Far East preparation.

So what if the shutdown lingers, Far East doesn’t happen and YUJO is the last time they play this fall?

“If this is it, if this is the end, we’re going to play hard and give it our all,” Fussinger said.

Shisa VC has sort of been down this road before. Toward the end of the coronavirus pandemic that effectively locked down high school sports, Shisa traveled to the YUJO and won the tournament four years ago.

“The fact that we’re at ASIJ is always such a blessing,” Biggins said. “Just be thankful that we’re at ASIJ, playing as Shisa.”