Bilateral youth basketball exchange at Camp Zama continues with day of scrimmages

SAGAMIHARA, JAPAN

02.17.2026

Story by Dustin Perry 

U.S. Army Garrison - Japan

CAMP ZAMA, Japan – In bringing together American and Japanese youth basketball players, one advocate here is hoping to build an ongoing partnership that will encourage a growing enthusiasm for their shared love of the game.

Following a full morning of scrimmages held Feb. 14 at the Zama Middle High School gymnasium, Jarred Serrano said the camaraderie and sportsmanship he witnessed among the teen and preteen players was a promising sign that he is moving toward that goal.

“This is a continued effort to build and maintain relationships from here on out with host-nation sports teams,” Serrano, Camp Zama’s youth sports and fitness director, said.

Boys and girls teams from Camp Zama and Naval Air Facility Atsugi, and squads from the nearby Sobudai Junior High and a private basketball club from the neighboring city of Sagamihara made up the competitors. The players, ages 11 to 15, faced off in a series of abbreviated four-quarter games.

Many of the Japanese and American players interacted previously during a pair of clinics held at the Camp Zama Youth Center in December and January that kicked off Serrano’s initiative. Serrano led the players through a series of warm-ups and drills that aimed to improve their fundamentals before dividing them into teams for three-minute scrimmages to apply what they’d learned.

Compared to last month’s clinic, the expanded playing time and tougher competition during this most recent event served as a beneficial training opportunity for him and the other players, Shūto Yokosawa said.

“It was a good experience for me to play against players I don’t normally face,” Yokosawa, 14, said. “At last month’s clinic, they taught us how to create distance between the defender by raising our leg when we shoot. I was able to use that technique during my games today, so I was happy to be able to apply what I had learned.”

On average, American players like Camp Zama’s Ayami Phillips, 13, were bigger and taller than their opponents. But Japanese players like the girls’ Riko Ohba and Yuno Hasegawa, both 12, used speed and agility to their advantage. The mix of power and quickness made for some balanced competition and exciting action on the court.

“It was nice experiencing playing with other Japanese schools because we don’t often have an opportunity to play teams like that,” Phillips said. “We got to learn how they play, and they got to learn how we play. We both got to see the differences between basketball culture in America and in Japan.”

An additional positive aspect of the exchange was seeing players from both sides making an earnest effort to communicate in the others’ native language. Yokosawa regularly called out plays and directed his teammates in English, and his eagerness to connect bilingually continued in conversations off the court.

“Through things like this basketball exchange, we can learn things we wouldn’t normally experience,” he said. “I think it’s amazing that we were all able to connect with each other in such a short time.”

Another exchange is scheduled next month on Camp Zama, and Serrano said he envisions developing a youth sports council to bring both sides together to share their input for future basketball events.

“The motto of this partnership is ‘Yume’ (the Japanese word for ‘Dream’),” Serrano said. “In English, it can be read as ‘You and Me can dream together.’ The motto represents our goal of building friendships, leadership skills and cultural connections through sports.”

• Date Taken: 02.17.2026
• Date Posted: 02.17.2026 22:17
• Story ID: 558278
• Location: SAGAMIHARA, JP