OLDS — Probably no one on the Olds College women’s basketball team takes the game as seriously as 24-year-old Rio Yamazaki of Japan.
Yamazaki lives for the sport.
Her ultimate goal is to play the game as a pro, hopefully in the Euro league.
She’d also like to bring Japanese basketball players to Canada or the U.S. and help them make the adjustment to the game and North American culture.
Yamazaki played the game in high school and loved it so much she decided she wanted to play it at the college level in the U.S. Her goal was to play at the Division 1 level, but, at five-feet, one-inch tall and weighing 130 pounds, that didn’t work out.
“A lot of coaches told me I’m too small for Division 1 level and I’m not good enough to play Division 1,” Yamazaki said during an interview with the Albertan.
“It got me mad. But it pushed me also, because it gave me the reason to play harder every day,” she added. “I give a hundred per cent every day to get better, to get where I want to go.”
Even in Japan, Yamazaki said she was the smallest on her team and she figures she’s the smallest on the Broncos too.
But she makes up for that with determination and desire.
“I’m a challenger, so I will never give up,” she said. “If something happens, I will try to figure something out – always. I will never give up. I think that’s my strength.”
She says she’s good at dribbling rather than layups or rebounds.
As for three-pointers?
“I’m working on it,” she said with laugh.
Yamazaki played basketball in Miami, Florida while studying for a degree in accounting. While there, she was recruited by Harrison Corolis, head coach of the Olds College Broncos women’s basketball team.
She now plays point guard for them while attending classes toward a business certificate. That’s just a one-year program, but Yamazaki hinted she could end up playing for the Broncos beyond that.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be here for,” she said. “I have three more years of (eligibility) so I can stay here for the next three years.”
Playing basketball has been an adjustment for Yamazaki though because the game is different here.
She said some don’t seem to take it as seriously, practise as seriously, as she does.
Coach Corolis says Yamazaki is still making the adjustment back to International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules because basketball players in the U.S. don’t play by those rules.
But he’s confident it’ll all work out.
“Rio was my first commitment as the head women's basketball coach here at Olds College,” Corolis wrote in an email.
“Her commitment to the game as both a student and an athlete has made her transition here to being a top ACAC player very seamless.
“Her talent makes her someone that other student-athletes should try and copy their game off of, as she takes growing her craft very seriously.
“She brings a scoring punch at all three levels but her strength is using her exceptional speed to get to the rim and score.
“Rio has the ability to put the team on her back in tight situations and we can count on her to give 100 per cent effort game in and game out.
“As she continues to transition back (to FIBA rules) her game will continue to diversify and she will continue to grow as a threat.
“She leads by doing and expects others to do the same. She knows what it takes to win and that is helpful in growing this program.
“Since she has gotten here though, she's taken a different approach and has grown significantly as a leader as she knows others look up to her.
“She has all the potential of being an ACAC great and her work ethic will make her a tough player to beat this season,” he added.
“I love this sport because I feel like basketball is another way for communicating with other people for me,” Yamazaki wrote in an email. “Eighty per cent of people I’ve known (in) my life I met them through basketball.
“My first year (in the United States) being away from home I didn’t speak any English but I made great friendships through basketball. I didn’t get homesick.”
On the day of the interview, Yamazaki had seen a doctor regarding a concussion she suffered a few days before. But she loves the game so much that she was determined to play for the team in a few days’ time.
She said she told the doctor she was “good to go,” and that the doctor reluctantly let her go.
The Broncos got off to an 0-2 start this season, but Yamazaki said while the team is not as strong as some she’s played on, she believes they have the talent to win the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference championship.
She also played in a Canadian 21 tournament in Toronto in August.
She likes to play street basketball too.
“When I play street basketball, it’s about you entertaining the other people watching,” she said. “It’s just adrenaline going. It’s just so crazy, so fun.”
Yamazaki was asked what she thinks about U.S. female basketball player Brittany Griner who went over to Russia to play basketball.
While attempting to fly back home, Griner was arrested after Russian officials say cannabis vape cartridges were found in her luggage. She was arrested for smuggling and possessing cannabis oil.
Griner pleaded guilty (her lawyer said she carried the oil unintentially) and was sentenced to nine years in prison. An appeal of that sentence was rejected.
Yamazaki is not so sure the cannabis oil is the big reason for Griner’s arrest, trial and imprisonment. She figures Griner was arrested and imprisoned because she’s Black and a member of the LGBTQ community.
When asked if Griner might be a bargaining chip for the Russians to persuade the U.S. to stop helping Ukraine in the Russian invasion of that country, Yamazaki agreed that could also be a factor.
“It’s very sad though, because she’s like, an amazing player. Now she’s in there for nine years. Now when she gets out, she can’t even play (any) more because she’s out of shape; she’s too old," she said.
During the interview, Yamazaki practised shooting some hoops and dribbling.
She wasn’t wearing high-top runners, even though many – maybe most – NBA players do.
Yamazaki said that’s because “my strength in the game is speed so in order for me to play faster, I need a lighter shoe.”
She said another factor is that running shoes cut below the ankle give her greater ability to move quickly in different directions.
Yamazaki said her parents are OK with her living so far away.
“I have two older sisters and I’m the baby one. So my parents are, like, ‘you know what? You do you. You’re not going to listen to us anyway,’” she said with a short laugh.
Her parents visited her this summer and plan to do so again at Christmas.
