Junior midfielder Junro Narita, a Beppu, Japan native, started his UNM soccer career by scoring two goals in the men’s soccer team’s season-opening victory against Oral Roberts University on Aug. 31.
Narita is a transfer from Tacoma (Wash.) Community College, where he scored 13 goals and had 13 assists in 1999 and was named to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges all-star team. He talked with the Daily Lobo about his impressive start and the soccer team.
Daily Lobo: Did you expect to start your UNM career so strongly?
Narita: The two goals were not what I expected, but I expected myself to play well.
DL: What intrigued you about UNM and its soccer program?
N: After I came to the United States, I attended junior college in Tacoma (Wash.). I was pretty much satisfied with my performance there. I was trying to challenge myself with a high level program.
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I was also interested in the Spanish program and the environment outside of campus. I wanted to speak Spanish outside on the street with friends. New Mexico pretty much fit my ideal place.
DL: You have been touted for your offensive skills, and UNM has had trouble scoring goals the past couple of years. Do you feel a need to shoulder the scoring load?
N: This year, I think we’ve got talent offensively. We have two strong forwards, strong outside midfielders, and we got a strong defense. I was told that 70 percent of my job was on offense and 30 percent on defense. The reason was that we’ve got a strong defense, so I can focus on offense. The players around me give me good passes and we can make more opportunities as a team.
DL: As a midfielder, what are your responsibilities in head coach Klaus Weber’s system? How does he plan to use your skills to the team’s advantage?
N: I’m not a good defensive player. I’m short and not the fastest guy on the team. I think my job is to play offense. Use the people around me and make them look better. That’s what I try to do.
DL: The team struggled last year with injuries and a poor performance on the road. Does the team feel pressure to show some progress?
N: Definitely. I think this year is our redemption year. We couldn’t play well in the past couple of years, especially last year. We’ve got a new coaching staff (assistant coach Jeremy Fishbein) and players. We are just trying to redeem ourselves.
DL: You have enjoyed success at the high school and junior college level. How can you help translate that success to the team?
N: I’m kind of a quiet guy on the field. One of my coaches once called me a quiet leader on the field. I show my passion and effort throughout what I am doing. I’m trying to be the hardest working guy on the team. What I try to do is push (senior forward) Ty Hibbert and make him work harder, and, hopefully, the rest of team will follow us. There’s a couple of guys who try to push guys to speak up. I just try to push guys without saying a word through practice.
DL: How much of an adjustment, culturally and on the field, have you had to make coming from Japan to the United States?
N: The teams here are big, and the style of soccer is different. Japan has a quick, technical kind of soccer. Here, it’s more physical. That’s the key point.
In Japan people are more likely to stick together as a group more than American. It’s just a difference between individualism and collectivism. In Japan, we place some importance on the group and not be individualistic.
DL: How big is soccer in Japan?
N: It’s very big in my generation. I think it is the most popular sport in our generation. For the older generation, it’s baseball, but for us, soccer is big.
At the pro leagues, we get 20,000 people per game. It’s going to be getting bigger and bigger.
DL: Will you try out for the national team after college?
N: Hopefully. It’s what I am shooting for. We are hosting the next World Cup in 2002, and they are in a building level. They’ve got a good coach from France. We have so many talented players, and some of them I played against in high school and they are good, I remembered that. They set the standard about how good I need to be on the national team. I am shooting for 2006. Right now, I’m not that good yet. Hopefully, I can get to that level.
DL: What is the best thing about New Mexico?
N: The environment. The weather, the landscape, the diversity. I think it is beautiful. Those factors make New Mexico one of the most unique states in America.
DL: The worst thing?
N: The crime rate. I heard a lot about the crime rate here. Somebody stole my bike twice last year. One was couple of weeks ago. That’s what I heard about New Mexico. I bought a new bike yesterday and decided to store that in my room from now on. I’m not going to keep my bike outside at my apartment.
