2008 Woodie Awards
Sakurai aces transfer to America
Natalie Niemeyer
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Tomomi Sakurai had always dreamt of playing volleyball in America. She made her dream a reality last summer when she moved to Cedar Rapids from Tokyo, Japan to start classes at Kirkwood Community College.
"This was my dream," Sakurai said. "I was looking for a place to play volleyball in the United States."
Head volleyball coach Jill Williams said she received a DVD of Sakurai from coaches at the University of Iowa and started communicating with her through e-mail regularly. Williams said communication was not good. The language barrier posed problems and Williams was not sure if Sakurai would make it to Kirkwood.
After losing some key players, Williams was one athlete short of completing her roster. At an opportune time, she received an e-mail from Sakurai saying that she would be at Kirkwood within the next few days.
"My experiences with Tomomi in the beginning were quirky," Williams remembered. It seemed every time Williams showed Sakurai around campus it started pouring. "It was kind of like, 'Well, welcome to America!'" Williams laughed.
Sakurai adjusted quickly to life in America. She moved into a four-bedroom apartment with a woman from Korea and two American women. "Japanese students don't have roommates," Sakurai said. "It's been amazing."
Sakurai's teammates have made sure she gets the full experience. "I had never been to an American restaurant," Sakurai said. "My teammates took me to Texas Roadhouse." Her teammates also introduced her to American music by burning her CDs of popular music.
Sakurai said she likes to shop at Lindale Mall, especially American Eagle. She also likes to watch movies.
Sakurai is in Kirkwood's English Language Acquisition program. She takes classes like Composition, Communications and Grammar.
"My classmates are from different countries so it's exciting," Sakurai said. Although her major is undecided, Sakurai is interested in interior design. She plans to transfer to a four-year university to continue her volleyball career.
The future is in the back of her mind but for now, Sakurai is focused on Eagle volleyball. "We hope to get a National Championship title. It's hard but we don't give up," Sakurai said.
Despite the language barrier, Sakurai has a presence on the court.
"She's talking more on the court," Williams said. "She has one-liners like 'One pass! One Pass!'"
Having Sakurai on the team hasn't just been a beneficial experience for her, it's helped her teammates and coaches grow as well.
"She's come a long way. I have too in a sense," Williams said. "She's become very good in practice about using her teammates as resources when she doesn't understand something."
"I am happy to be playing volleyball with my teammates," Sakurai said.
At the end of the season Tomomi received MVP honors for Region XI-B All Tournament Team. She was also awarded Second-Team Volleyball All-Region XI-B.
"This was my dream," Sakurai said. "I was looking for a place to play volleyball in the United States."
Head volleyball coach Jill Williams said she received a DVD of Sakurai from coaches at the University of Iowa and started communicating with her through e-mail regularly. Williams said communication was not good. The language barrier posed problems and Williams was not sure if Sakurai would make it to Kirkwood.
After losing some key players, Williams was one athlete short of completing her roster. At an opportune time, she received an e-mail from Sakurai saying that she would be at Kirkwood within the next few days.
"My experiences with Tomomi in the beginning were quirky," Williams remembered. It seemed every time Williams showed Sakurai around campus it started pouring. "It was kind of like, 'Well, welcome to America!'" Williams laughed.
Sakurai adjusted quickly to life in America. She moved into a four-bedroom apartment with a woman from Korea and two American women. "Japanese students don't have roommates," Sakurai said. "It's been amazing."
Sakurai's teammates have made sure she gets the full experience. "I had never been to an American restaurant," Sakurai said. "My teammates took me to Texas Roadhouse." Her teammates also introduced her to American music by burning her CDs of popular music.
Sakurai said she likes to shop at Lindale Mall, especially American Eagle. She also likes to watch movies.
Sakurai is in Kirkwood's English Language Acquisition program. She takes classes like Composition, Communications and Grammar.
"My classmates are from different countries so it's exciting," Sakurai said. Although her major is undecided, Sakurai is interested in interior design. She plans to transfer to a four-year university to continue her volleyball career.
The future is in the back of her mind but for now, Sakurai is focused on Eagle volleyball. "We hope to get a National Championship title. It's hard but we don't give up," Sakurai said.
Despite the language barrier, Sakurai has a presence on the court.
"She's talking more on the court," Williams said. "She has one-liners like 'One pass! One Pass!'"
Having Sakurai on the team hasn't just been a beneficial experience for her, it's helped her teammates and coaches grow as well.
"She's come a long way. I have too in a sense," Williams said. "She's become very good in practice about using her teammates as resources when she doesn't understand something."
"I am happy to be playing volleyball with my teammates," Sakurai said.
At the end of the season Tomomi received MVP honors for Region XI-B All Tournament Team. She was also awarded Second-Team Volleyball All-Region XI-B.
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