Pros to MHS students: Train hard, play hard

“Live and breathe playing beach volleyball.”

Marianas High School students have their picture taken with professional beach volleyball players, from left, Erika Habaguchi and Samaa Miyagawa of Japan and China’s Mengtong Wang and Rongrong Shen during their visit to MHS last Wednesday. (Jon Perez)

This was the message that beach volleyball professional players from China and Japan told a spirited group of Marianas High School students that listened to them during Wednesday’s meet-and-greet session.

The Chinese pair of Rongrong Shen and Mengtong Wang, along with the Japanese male duo of Kosuke Sato and Takashi Tsuchiya and women’s partners Summer Miyagawa and Erika Habaguchi answered questions fielded to them by MHS students.

They also held a similar event at Saipan International School later in the day. MHS and SIS were chosen after both schools ruled the girls’ and boys’ indoor volleyball event in the Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization.

The visit was part of the Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association’s program of activities for the 23rd Annual Marianas Cup Beach Volleyball Festival that was held over the weekend in Guam.

They also answered questions about nutrition, how they started playing, other sports and hobbies, and even gave tips on becoming a better player.

Shen and Wang, who are still studying in China, said through a translator that beach volleyball is a fun sport that they loved and will continue to play until they finally decide to retire.

Both players, who started in indoor volleyball, train for eight hours a day focusing on strength, ball control and their vertical leaping skills.

Coaching is also part of Shen and Wang’s plans when they retire where they want to share what they have learned from playing to other aspiring volleyball players.

The two Japanese pairs, meanwhile, train for four hours a day for six times a week holding running and jumping practice sessions on the sand.

While Habaguchi, who has played in various pro tours in Thailand, Korea, and Russia, hopes to become a teacher and coach in Japan. Miyagawa wants to get married and start a family once she’s done playing in the pro tour.

All players did not find any difficulty from shifting to indoor to beach volleyball.

“You just got to watch out for the wind but basically it is almost the same. It is not that hard,” said Shen, who plays at a local tour in China with teammate Wang.

All three pairs said they hope to someday represent their respective countries’ national teams in the Summer Olympic Games.

The three pairs of professional beach volleyball players arrived on Saipan last Monday. They will also hold a free clinic today at 4pm to 6pm at the Fiesta beach and will have a meet-and-greet event at Godfather’s Beach Bar afterwards.

Shen and Wang are also aiming for some payback when they play against Habaguchi and Miyagawa in another exhibition match. They lost to the Japanese pair in Guam.

The champions of the junior Marianas Cup on Sunday will then get a chance to team up with the professional players in a mix-and-match finale the same day.