When the Travelodge Aussie Spirit’s only outlet outside of their hotel in Ota City, Japan, is a trip to the diamond, it’s not hard to see why softball is taking over every aspect of the squad’s life, including their dreams.

Arriving in Japan on 1 June, the squad have been closely following restrictions to keep themselves safe whilst preparing for the upcoming Olympic Games by playing a series of games against Professional League teams and the Japan national team.

The squad are undertaking daily COVID and temperature testing, on top of limiting interaction with people outside of their ‘bubble’, which is a taste of what to expect for all Olympians heading to Tokyo.

For a large part of the group who hold down full-time careers outside of softball in Australia, it’s a significant shift of focus to have their sport suddenly become one of their only outlets.

For others like Stacey Porter who has played professionally in Japan for 14 years, it’s not an enormous shock to the system.

“I think some of the girls have told me they have started dreaming about softball I just said ‘what do you mean I’ve been dreaming about softball for years’,” laughed Porter, a veteran of two Olympic Games and aiming for her third.

“So it is, it’s definitely an adjustment period I think for the girls but one that they’ve all really been enjoying, obviously it’s a very different life than at home 9-5 jobs, it’s a different period of their lives, they seem to be enjoying it which is good.”

While the focus is on-diamond, it’s the time off in the hotel that has proven challenging, yet manageable.

“We can’t leave the hotel unless we are going to the park. Off days are a little bit longer than others but we have got the gym set up downstairs, there is a couple of bikes in the gym as well and we have been getting around the swimming trials at the moment at home, we’ve got a connecter for our laptops that is connected to the TV, so we do movie nights, things like that.

“There is some hair braiding going on today as well, we’re all finding things to do indoors, I would say in terms of everybody, I think we are travelling ok. I don’t see any unhappy people.”

Porter, a member of the Panthers Softball Club in the Brisbane Softball Association, said the ‘bubble’ life has begun to build a sense of comradery amongst the squad and staff.

She said come Games time, they’ll have the benefit of having experienced what it will be like for athletes competing in Tokyo, the groove they’ve settled into being largely similar to life in the Village.

“I would say we would be able to cruise through pretty easily as much as it is an odd situation, I don’t find that any of us have really struggled.

“It has been an adjustment period, but definitely for us it will be easier (during the Olympics) given that we have done it for six or seven weeks before hand.

“So, it has probably promoted a bit more comradery with the girls because I’m living down the hall and we’ve often got our doors open and chatting and if life was different and we were allowed to move around outside, that sort of stuff doesn’t happen as much. There is probably a level of getting to know each other a little better which can only benefit us moving forward which is good.

“I think if you’re an athlete coming into the Games knowing how different it’s going to be, you’re going to expect it to be strange and different and unusual I think everyone will handle that fine.”

The comradery off-diamond is translating to positive results on, and at the time of writing, the Travelodge Aussie Spirit have only dropped one game during the camp, coming in their first meeting with the Japan national team.

It was the first time the squad has faced international calibre opposition since February 2020, coincidentally against Japan in the final of the Australia Pacific Cup.

Despite the loss, Porter says there are plenty of positives to take out of their first real test as these games are more about gathering knowledge than wins and losses.

“Our goal going into that game was to get information out of the Japanese national team, we haven’t played an international standard team for nearly two years, so we were very aware of our job against them and obviously we want to peak at the end of this tournament, or this time in Japan.

“Some good signs and some good performances in defence and in offence, not discouraged at all by what happened in the result, and we learnt a bit more about those girls, some promising signs which was good.”

The information is invaluable for when softball officially opens Olympic competition at 9:00am local time on 21 July, Australia will take on the defending Olympic champions and host nation Japan.

Porter says the 2008 Gold Medallists could feel some pressure in their highly anticipated fixture.

“They’re a nationally recognised team that everyone really knows and follows, I would say that the pressure is on their side, we are obviously going to face our own type of pressure and we’ve got systems in place to handle all that stuff.

“But I would say yes, being the host country and first event of the Olympic games, I am sure that is something that they’re thinking of.”

The match-up is in many ways the perfect way to kick off the Olympic Games as both National Bodies have enjoyed a strong relationship, Japan often one of the first to confirm their spot to compete in the Australia Pacific Cup in years gone by.

Ota City has also been a strong supporter of Australian softball hosting previous camps for the Aussie Spirit, and have recently been allowed to attend practice games in small numbers and under restrictions to keep everyone safe.

“It was nice to just have some bodies in the stands and definitely created a bit of atmosphere,” added Porter.

“There has been lots of support and the mail, there has probably been 10 or 15 letters sent through written in english from the Japanese people who are happy to have us.”

The Travelodge Aussie Spirit’s camp continues in Ota City until the final team of 15 moves into the Olympic Village mid-July.

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