Tomoko Yoshihara, 33, returned
to the Japanese side after a seven year break
to
lead
the national side to ninth place at the 2003
World Grand Prix in
Italy in July.
The Hokkaido
born Tomo
brings with her a wealth of
experience
to balance the youthful exuberance of others in the team
and
having played as a middle
blocker for a long time Tomo was recently converted to
an outside attacker to great effect.
As captain, she wears the number one for
Japan and is the only member of the
team with Olympic experience having competed at the 1992
Olympics in Barcelona
and again at Atlanta in 1996.
She is the most experienced player and also the
spiritual leader of the team.
Tomo, who describes herself as very stubborn and
admits to enjoying shochu, a strong distilled spirit
made from potatoes, played as part of the then
prestigious team, Hitachi, and in 1994 left Hitachi and
transferred to Italy. After two seasons, Tomo came back
to Japan and joined Daiei Orange Attackers first and
then TOYOBO Orchis, both of which were wound up despite
being successful, due to the long-lasting economic
depression. Since 2002, Tomo has been playing for
Pioneer Red Wings, which is being coached by the eminent
coach, Alie Selinger.
