The Vancouver Island Mountain Centre on Mount Washington is a legacy of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, and it will welcome its first international visitors this month.
The Bandai senior high school volleyball team will fly into Vancouver on March 23 and tour the UBC campus. They will be at the VIMC for some on-slope fun March 24-25, then play some games against Canadian teams at G.P. Vanier Secondary on March 26 before heading back to Vancouver on March 27 and returning to Tokyo on March 28.
Former Mount Washington snowboard instructor Masato Miyazawa was instrumental in arranging the visit to the newly opened VIMC, which features dorm-style accommodation for 40, a state-of-the-art weight room, office space and a large meeting/dining room.
Miyazawa's association with Mount Washington began 10 years ago. After studying English at UBC in 2001, he obtained a working holiday visa. "I really wanted to work at a ski resort in B.C. as a full-time snowboard instructor," he said. "I applied pretty much to all of the ski resorts in B.C. and got a job at Mount Washington.
"When I got a phone call from Mount Washington Snow School for an interview I didn't know very well where Mount Washington was. It was a pretty big challenge for me. No Japanese was (spoken) there at all. However, it was a great environment to improve my English skills. No need to say, the Snow School instructors were super kind and friendly."
Miyazawa's first snowboarding teaching in Canada stretched from December 2002 to March 2003. He then returned to his job at a jewelry company in Tokyo. "However, it was too much stressful," he said. "Terrible rush hour (trains), too hard to work, no days off ... that is kind of our culture. I totally hate a 'workaholic culture,'" Miyazawa said.
His experience as a snowboard instructor and a desire to use his English skills prompted Miyazawa to make "the best decision in my life" and become a teacher. He worked at Mount Washington in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons and had a great time ("Not stressful at all."), then received his teacher certification in November 2007.
In April 2008 he started working at Bandai senior high in his hometown of Niigata. "Last year, P.E. teacher Tetsuo (Terry) Watanabe moved to Bandai. Terry's major is volleyball. He has also international experience in New York," Miyazawa recounted.
Through nine years of coaching volleyball In Niigata, Watanabe's team won six regional championships in their seven appearances at the finals. Miyazawa said the pressure to win all the time began to take its toll, and when Watanabe moved to Bandai he said, "Masato, can you go to Canada and USA with me?" "I said, 'Sure, let's see (some) different culture.'"
The two visited Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the U.S. last August, during which time they met Mount Washington Alpine Resort president Peter Gibson. "Terry was impressed with Canadian culture and the beautiful view on the Island," Miyazawa said.
"Before we visited the Island, I and Peter exchanged e-mails and I mentioned I was looking for school volleyball teams. He introduced me to his niece, who works at Vanier. Peter also took us to Vanier. We took many photos to show our students and their parents," Miyazawa said.
"For our international experience program on Vancouver Island, we had a parents' meeting last October. We showed a bunch of photos and explained how nice Vancouver Island is to visit. I and Terry really wanted our students to have some great experiences. We thought volleyball games with Canadian students would be wonderful for both, so I kept exchanging e-mails with Peter's nice, Rebecca Sulek. Everything is going really well so far," Miyazawa said.
For more on the visiting Bandai team, visit them at facebook.com/Bandaigirlsvolleyballteam.
