元気さん prepares to address the media with his assistant coach to his left.

This morning, 元気さん spoke with the media about his expectations for the upcoming season. Having been recently promoted from the French Division 2.3, Union Omaha and 元気さん are certainly one of the minnows in a pool of sharks in the French Division 1.1. Here is a transcription of the press conference:

Moderator: “Thank you all for attending our first press conference this season. Please keep questions short and do not speak out of turn. Thank you. We’ll start with the man on the right over here.”

Reporter #1: “Hello, I am Monsieur Marconi from France24, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. Where do you expect to be fighting in the league?”

元気さん: “Well, given our level of experience compared to the other teams, I believe it won’t be easy at all. We are certainly going to struggle, so I believe we will be fighting for relegation this season. However, I have complete hope in the lads that they’ll be fighting hard every game as I work every night to tweak our tactics until I find something that clicks. Next question please.”



Reporter #2: “Hi, this is Adam from NewsSpeak.com. Who do you think will win the championship this season?”

元気さん: “That’s a bit of an early question to ask at this point in time, isn’t it!” *some laughs* “Well, I know Monsieur Zingzing and his Bits’n Pieces team is surely one of the candidates to win, especially after having been runners up twice the last two seasons. I’d also place Monsieur Palatujaine’s Breizh-Île to not make it easy for Monsieur Zingzing as they look to defend their first title. However, I’d also give a watchful eye to Pensia’s Union Paris this season. They’re looking to be a good team as well. As for us...well, don’t expect us to be winning anything anytime soon!”

Moderator: “We’ll take one more question. You ma’am, up front...yes, you.”

Reporter #3: “Uh yeah, hey, my name’s Yuko from the sports section in NHKNews. Is there a particular reason why you go by a Japanese name even though you’re not Japanese?”

元気さん: “...maybe someday I’ll let you know. But for now, I’d rather not answer that at this time.”

Press Leader: “That’ll be all, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and have a safe ride home.”

A nervous, sweaty 元気さん appeared to the media today. Although he and his team face a difficult journey ahead, we’ll be giving them all the energy to persevere and give it their all this season! We’re eager to see how they and the others get on.

Thank you!

--T