Everyone around you keeps getting better.
It feels like you're the only one being left behind—
but you're exactly the person I want to tell this to.
Football isn't a world where only the people who develop early can win.
In junior high, I was surrounded by good players.
Some were the kind people called “monsters,”
and others scored for the first team as if it were nothing.
But did every one of them keep thriving in high school,
join a strong university team,
and continue playing football to this day?
No.
Some quit along the way.
Some suddenly stopped improving.
And sometimes a player nobody had noticed suddenly transformed.
We don't all develop at the same speed.
Realizing that can make a huge difference to your life in football.
■ I Was One of the Slow Ones
Honestly, I wasn't the type to develop early.
In junior high and high school, I was barely ever called up to the first team.
I spent far more time on the B team or on the bench.
Now that I play university football,
I think back and realize that, although it looked as if I wasn't improving, I was actually building something.
I wasn't exceptionally skilled or gifted with the ball at my feet.
But all those mornings when I arrived at school before anyone else to train on my own
kept raising the standard I expected of myself.
It's because I have that standard now
that I can play alongside national training center selections, national championship players, and J.League youth academy graduates.
■ Development Has Its Own Timing
In football, hard work often doesn't produce immediate results.
You can work for a month and barely change.
Sometimes even six months of improvement goes unnoticed.
But then one day, out of nowhere,
someone says,
“Hang on—have you suddenly got better?”
That really happens.
Your effort builds slowly but surely,
and when your breakthrough comes, it all shows at once.
For early developers, that moment comes in junior high.
For late developers, it comes in high school or university.
What matters isn't speed.
It's that the moment only comes to those who keep going.
■ Not Improving Right Now Doesn't Mean You've Lost
You can't get a game at all.
You don't feel like you're improving.
You can't beat someone your own age.
I think a lot of junior high and high school players feel that way.
But that isn't defeat.
You're simply still building.
If you lack technique, your physical strength might develop.
If you lack speed, your decision-making might transform.
If you're poor with the ball at your feet, your mentality might become your strength.
Different parts of us develop at different times.
There's no need to panic by comparing yourself with somebody else.
■ Even If You Seem Behind, Your Effort Doesn't Disappear
I was slow to develop.
But the work I kept doing during those slow years
is what now allows me to pursue my dream of becoming a professional overseas.
Here's how I see it.
A flower that blooms early can also fade early.
A flower that blooms late puts down strong roots before it blooms.
What matters isn't how quickly you bloom.
It's how long you keep preparing to bloom.
■ One Last Thing I Want to Say
If there's a junior high or high school player thinking,
“I'm falling behind.”
“I'm the only one who's not improving.”
“I can't compete with the others.”
Here's what I want to tell you.
That's okay.
You don't have to rush.
We all develop at different speeds.
What matters is carrying on without giving up.
Even a late bloomer can absolutely bloom.
Keep putting in the work today, so you're ready when that moment comes.