Thank you very much to all the participants and organisers.
The sports day, which began in 2021, is now in its fifth year. It will be completed safely in 2025 without anyone getting injured.
Thank you to everyone involved in creating this environment. I am filled with gratitude.
I'm Yamada Maki, a member of the sports day committee.
This year he will also be competing as vice-captain of the White Team.
On the day of the sports day, I somehow managed to wake up around 6am. First, I'd like to introduce my once a year morning routine.
First, we walked around the track that had been laid out the day before, stretching and checking the ground. The sun had just risen, gently illuminating the ground.
If you walk a little, you will find a peaceful landscape around the sports day venue, so if you are staying overnight for the sports day and manage to wake up early, I highly recommend taking a morning walk.
It's already November, so the sunlight isn't very strong, but if there's no wind, it warms your body gently from the morning. You can smell the smell of open burning somewhere, but the quiet space spreads out, with no one passing by.
If you go further, you will come to the shrine where the main hall is located at the top of a slightly long staircase.
Here we prayed for victory for the White Team and for the safety of all participating members, and then returned to the elementary school where everyone was.
This year's participants were 63 in total: 45 members, 3 partners, 15 families, and 12 children.
As it was the change of season when influenza is prevalent, the number of applicants was the highest ever, but not everyone who had originally hoped to attend could participate.
There are so many memorable memories this year.
This and that. Each of you may remember different scenes, but I hope that each of you will find something that really touches your heart as a sports day.
What are the highlights of this year?
Huh? Are you crawling here while being watched? That's a bit...
Starting this year, we have introduced a children's race as an exhibition race.
During the crawling race, kids who are usually good at not only crawling but even running looked up with calm eyes at the smiling adults surrounding them for some reason.
Once the kids understand the rules, they watch the game from above their parents.
Manabe-san is the same as always lol
This is a scene from a paper balloon watermelon smashing event.
This was the first competition of the year, and unusually for Monosas sports day, it was a one-on-one format with one person from each team. The rules were that the winner was the person who hit the most paper balloons placed on the ground within their own territory, blindfolded with an eye mask.
This photo shows Manabe before the competition. I hope you use it when you take a nap at work.
It's an eye mask that's supposed to make you look funny when you wear it, but when Manabe wears it, it's like, what's this... No further comment.
After five years, the White Team finally finds a winning strategy for the tug-of-war
The captain of the white team has been searching for ways to win for the past few days.
Other members also came forward and gave us strong advice, saying, "If we get into this position, we can win," and it felt like we could win even before the match began.
The result of this tug-of-war was a victory for the White team, thanks to their advanced research.
I'm in the middle of the centipede race, I don't know what's ahead or what the rhythm is, it's so exhausting
The centipede race has become a classic event, with Sazae-san appearing every year and teams being unable to move forward at all because they are so out of sync with the rhythm.
The participants themselves look like they're having a hard time, but the people around them seem to be having fun. Rather than supporting the person in front of them, they look so serious as they cling to their lives. The more serious they are, the more fun the sports day is.
And by the way, the White Team won this year.
These days, when we are no longer so conscious of clear wins and losses, I felt the joys and sorrows of each competition building up. "This was a good match," "If we win the next competition, we might be able to overtake him," "I absolutely want to win," "I don't want to lose" - these were the kinds of words that were exchanged between everyone on a normal day.
There are times when it's embarrassing to show this fighting spirit, but at times like this, it doesn't bother me.
I'm happy that I can express my feelings as they come to me.
This year, Kawarazaki has once again created a video of the sports day.
The release date is expected to be around the second half of December.
Let's wait with excitement.
And finally.
We hope that Monosus members will be able to enjoy the sports day in 2026 in good health.
We also welcome new members to the athletics committee.
YAMADA Maki