Anters Alumnus Reflects on My Academy Days

Tetsu Sugiyama, Kashima Antlers Tsukuba Area School Coach, Part 2

 

During my playing days, I aimed for titles wearing the Antlers emblem. What kind of training did I undergo during my academy years to become a professional soccer player, and what kind of obstacles did I face? We explore the training methods, daily habits, and mindset I had at the time.

The possibilities for the future are endless

“Kids today probably don’t have to prepare the field very often (laughs).”

Coach Tetsu Sugiyama’s training environment during his academy days is a stark contrast to the Tsukuba Academy Center that stretches out before us today. Until he became a professional player at Antlers, he didn’t receive regular training from a fully qualified goalkeeper coach. During training on dirt fields, he was constantly covered in scrapes. To prevent them, he wore long sleeves and long pants no matter how hot it was—

However, even as times evolve, the message he wants to convey to children remains unwavering.

“Having a single goal gives a person their greatest strength. It’s never just about the “now.” Everyone’s soccer journey has only just begun. If you keep working hard, the possibilities for the future will expand endlessly.”

Behind these words lay memories from his academy days, which formed the foundation of his career as a professional soccer player.

Meeting a Goalkeeper

Baseball, basketball, dodgeball. Young Tetsu Sugiyama loved playing ball games, and he started playing soccer with his friends when he was in elementary school. However, at first, he didn’t find it as appealing as other ball games, wondering, “What’s so interesting about soccer?”

“First of all, handling the ball with my feet was incredibly difficult. I couldn’t dribble properly, and because we played on dirt fields, the ball would bounce around, making it hard to stop. I had only ever played ball games where I used my hands, so for a moment, I almost came to hate soccer.”

Coach Sugiyama recalls that this was the “first obstacle” in his soccer journey. “The people who keep hitting walls and breaking through them every time are the ones who eventually become professionals.” He was able to overcome that initial hurdle by finding his path in the only position where he could use his hands, which he was good at.

“Goalkeeping was the only position where I could use my hands, and I found it fun. Being a goalkeeper kept me from coming to hate soccer. I thought, “I still want to play goalkeeper, so I want to keep playing soccer.”

Once you break through one obstacle, another even higher one appears. In junior high school, he was intimidated by the high level of his seniors, thinking, “Are there really people who are this good at goalkeeping?” But he spurred himself on, saying, “If I don’t get better than this person, I won’t be able to play in matches, so first I have to catch up, and then I’ll overtake them.” At the time, there were no dedicated goalkeeper coaches like Coach Sugiyama has today. He worked on his basic training with his seniors and honed his skills as a goalkeeper.

 

The Three Years That Built His Foundation for Becoming a Professional

After graduating junior high school, Coach Sugiyama enrolled at Kumamoto Kokufu High School. Today, it is one of Japan’s leading prestigious schools, producing many professional players, but when Coach Sugiyama entered, it had only recently become coeducational, and the boys’ soccer club was still in its infancy.

“It was originally an all-girls school, and the school is located in the city center of Kumamoto. But when the boys’ soccer club was founded, the new field was built about 16 kilometers away. At first, we would travel 8 kilometers by microbus, and then run the remaining 8 kilometers as part of our training. After that, we switched to bicycles, but it was 16 kilometers round trip every day. Simply put, I didn’t have the stamina for it. High school was just too tough (laughs).”

The environment of the soccer club became another “obstacle.” Looking back, he says, “Everything was new to me. My spirit almost broke many times,” but even as other players left the club one after another, Coach Sugiyama himself “never felt like quitting soccer.”

“My love for the position of goalkeeper outweighed everything else. Looking back, maybe it was because I spent three years in such an environment that I was able to strengthen both my body and mind. I only started thinking about becoming a professional after entering university, but I feel that I was able to build the physical and mental foundation for pursuing professionalism during my high school years.”

After that, he went to Fukuoka University and became a professional player at Antlers. He hit walls time and again, broke through them every time, and at the end of that journey, another harsh world awaited him.

“I’m aware that I’m the kind of person who has a hard time sticking with one thing. But soccer is the only thing I have been able to continue. I’m glad I didn’t quit soccer, and I’m glad I came to love the position of goalkeeper. Looking back, my desire to “get better” or “not quit soccer” always outweighed everything else. That’s why I was able to face so many “obstacles” and overcome them. That is the foundation of my soccer journey.”

A Mindset That Doesn’t Break Easily

The origin of Coach Sugiyama’s soccer journey lies in his academy days, when he hit walls time and again. Now, he is in a position to pass on that experience to the next generation of Antlers players.

“Of course, I want everyone here to aim to become a professional and to become an Antlers player. The Antlers emblem is engraved here, and many of you probably started aiming to become professionals when you were little. So, I think it might not really resonate with children like me talking about players who became professionals (laughs), but they probably share the same desire to “just get better at soccer.”

Even now that he has retired from playing, his soccer journey is far from over. As a coach at the Antlers Tsukuba Area School, he continues to be involved in soccer every day.

“There are players of all different levels, and I believe my role as a school coach is to figure out how to help them feel the fun and joy of goalkeeping. To put it bluntly, far fewer people become professionals, and most players don’t have everything go smoothly. That’s why I don’t want them to have a mindset that breaks easily whenever they hit an “obstacle.” I want them to break through it again and again, keep moving forward on the path that opens up beyond it, and find opportunities.”

Now, stretching out before him is a bright blue artificial turf field. On a hot summer day, even if he tumbles on the ground in short sleeves and shorts, he probably won’t end up covered in scrapes. The ball kicked from his hands and feet will roll straight just as he wants it to—. It is precisely because this is an “environment that is not taken for granted” that Coach Sugiyama’s words are so passionate.

“Be more ambitious! Break through that wall, over and over again!”