The secret to the strength of Criacao Shinjuku, who secured a promotion to JFL - Interview with analyst and coach Yukimura Yoshizawa
We had an online interview with Yukimura Yoshizawa, an analyst and coach at Criacao Shinjuku, who has been using our video analysis tool FL-UX since the 2021 season.
Coach Yoshizawa secured the promotion to JFL on December 2021 after winning the playoff final. For the upcoming 2022 season, he will continue as the team analyst to support the players and embrace the new challenges JFL will bring to Criacao Shinjuku. While the season opener was approaching quickly on the 13th of next month, Coach Yoshizawa kindly agreed to sit down with us for an intereview.
FL-UX: Thank you for taking your time today to have an interview with us.
Coach Yoshizawa: Thank you for having me here.
FL-UX: Coach Yoshizawa, could you please tell us about your background and your current role within the team?
Coach Yoshizawa: I was the first team analyst at Nara Club, then an analyst/coach at Yokohama FC U-18, and since 2021, I have been the analyst and coach at Criacao Shinjuku. My main role currently is to analyze the opposing team.
FL-UX: Thank you for the response. It has probably been about a year since you started using FL-UX. Could you tell us how you use it in your daily training sessions and matches?
Coach Yoshizawa: Yes, our team has a coaching staff of five people, including the director, and FL-UX is primarily used by those five people to share footage of the games. Specifically, we upload the game footage we record to FL-UX, edit it by adding drawings, etc., and share it within the FL-UX using channels.
FL-UX: So it’s mainly used for communication among the coaching staff. How did you share videos before you started using FL-UX?
Coach Yoshizawa: Previously I edited the video with a video editing tool, exported it as an mp4 file, uploaded it to YouTube, and shared the YouTube link. It took a lot of time to convert and upload files. Now I log in to FL-UX and check the videos other users share immediately, making it much easier.
FL-UX: I’m glad to hear you say that. Have there been any positive changes in your team since implementing FL-UX?
Coach Yoshizawa: Yes, Now that I’ve been able to reduce the amount of time I spend on video editing, I have time to show the players one or two more video clips, or maybe watch one or two more videos before talking to players.
FL-UX: Thank you. So the reduced time it takes to edit a video allowed an increased amount of video to be exchanged within the team. By the way, Coach Yoshizawa, I heard you have used analysis tools other than FL-UX. What do you think makes FL-UX stand out from the rest?
Coach Yoshizawa: Firstly, I think easy-to-understand operations make it stand out. I was especially surprised by how easy it is to use the drawing tools when editing a match footage. Before using FL-UX, I had the impression that drawing with video editing software was quite time-consuming, even to draw a single arrow. But with FL-UX, I didn’t feel that stress at all. It helps me alot to do my job.
FL-UX: We have been carefully creating our drawing tools by listening to the opinions of our users since the beginning of development, so it is very encouraging to hear such comments! Specifically, what kind of sketch do you use often?
Coach Yoshizawa: Well, I often circle players I want to focus on each scene and use arrows to show the relationships between the players. It is very convenient to be able to draw shapes in an instant with just a click.
FL-UX: Thank you. Well, it’s really convenient because you can create an arrow with just two clicks. What else do you think is unique (FL-UX)?
Coach Yoshizawa: I also think that the ability to customize the tag content is a feature that other products don’t have. I think it is be better to have a tool with high degree of freedom that can be customized according to the play concept that Criacao has. For example, there are certain situations in soccer that Criacao considers, and it has been useful to create tags and sort them according to those situations.
FL-UX: Indeed, I don’t think there are many software that offer such a high degree of freedom. By the way, do you show the edited video to the players?
Coach Yoshizawa: Yes of course. I show it to the players as well. Since we started showing footage edited with FL-UX, we often receive comments from athletes saying “The footage has become much easier to watch.”
RUN.EDGE: I see. We are very happy to hear that FL-UX is proving to be a useful tool within your team! This is a question from a slightly different angle, but I believe that not only the strength of play but also the good atmosphere of the team is a characteristic of Criacao Shinjuku. What kind of goals do you have for yourself as an analyst, such as how to interact with the players, something you pay close attention to, etc.?
Coach Yoshizawa: First of all, this year included, we want to firmly embody Criacao’s vision, and we want to be a presence that can energize the city of Shinjuku. Based on that, I would like to aim to become the champion of JFL. In addition, while last year’s games were played without spectators, we were able to hold games from the National Regional Soccer Champions League to the promotion games with spectators, and the atmosphere in the stadium at that time was something that each player felt to heart. There was something immeasurable about it. The players also said, “It’s completely different and this is good.” Once again, I was able to feel the gratitude and warmth of everyone’s support. So I think we have to give back to the community, and I think it would be great if the community could become richer through the synergetic effects.
RUN.EDGE: Thank you very much for the interview! We are cheering for you too!
Coach Yoshizawa, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to have the interview with us!
We would like to work hard to develop better products so that we can contribute in the form of technology to Criacao Shinjuku’s success on a new stage!