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Our school softball team participated in the Kanto regional championship on 6th and 7th of June at Odawara city in Kanagawa prefecture representing high schools in Tokyo. Kanto regional championship is the tournament of 16 teams representing Tokyo metropolis and 7 prefectures. To compete this Kanto regional championship, teams must win each regional and prefectural tournament. My school team was defeated at the semi-final, but won all second chance matches, qualifying participation of the Kanto championship.

Kanto championship was held just after the midterm exam. We practiced everyday even during the exam. After taking each day's exam, we practiced and then went home to study for the next day's exam. This became one cycle during the exam period. It was really tough schedule. The Kanto regional championship was from 6^th of June. Our team took Odakyu Romancecar (express train) to Odawara on 5^th of June, Friday, for the next day's match. We stayed in a hotel with a luxury hot spring. We were so pleased to take a bath, saying it was like a reward for our hard work.

We played not becoming too nervous during the match. It was a good experience to enjoy the atmosphere of the high level competition and to learn various play styles from other teams. This kind of match is one of my goals and becomes a motivation to overcome my hard daily practice. Although we were disappointed to lose the first match, this would become a good chance to improve our softball skills and increase our mental strength. We would like to become the Kanto region champion next time, making good use of this experience.