Meet Mariko Yoshiwara: Rec Sports Supserstar


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Mariko Yoshiwara is one of the more accomplished competitors I know. Born in Clackamas and raised in Gresham, Yoshiwara studied in Corvallis before moving back to Portland for graduate school. She lives her life with spirit and a clear idea of who she is and what she wants to contribute to society. A true leader by example.

I sat with her last week to learn a little bit more.

How many of Portland’s rec sports do you participate in?

Well, I play Recesstime and Underdog Kickball. I’m on a women’s softball team through Rose City Softball Association (RCSA) and Portland Metro Softball. I’m also in the Portland Public Schools Bowling league, and Recesstime Dodgeball. I also played in the fundraising Lesbian Community Project Softball tournament, with a bunch of Oregon and Washington teams. And a Freightliner business team through one of the secretaries at my school.

I knew it was a lot, but that was even more than I thought. What sort of success have you seen?

As far as championships, we’ve won the Underdog league championship four times, and we won two [Underdog] Red Rubber tournaments, the one in Seattle this year, and last year won the Portland Red Rubber tournament. In RCSA, I won the Best Outfielder Award, and the MVP award on my Softball team. Which was pretty sweet too, especially after not playing Softball for like 10 years. My first time playing in the outfield was this year.

Awesome! Do you do any practicing on your own, or go jogging or anything like that?

Nah, it’s all just playing sports. About two years ago, I felt like I need to pay more attention to [how I treat my body], just had a change in my mindset. Paying attention to what’s fueling my body, what my body needs and being active. I did train for a little bit because I did the Portland To Coast walking relay last year for the first time, and I’m doing it again this year. So I would speed walk and stuff, but beside that I don’t really do any type of cardio or anything except what I do [while competing].

So that was the primary reason you got started on that path of health and fitness?

Actually we had a weight loss competition at work, so that was the original driving force behind it. I’m a pretty competitive person, so we’re putting money on this? Let’s do it. And I don’t believe in diets or stuff like that, or like super-regimented cardio workouts because that’s not who I am. I like to go out and have fun playing and just staying active.

So you don’t care for the gym setting?

No, I don’t like the gym at all. Treadmills are the devil to me, and I don’t lift weights or anything like that, I prefer to go out hiking and backpacking or play some Ultimate Disc. Just things that get me active and moving and stuff. I do like to run stairs a lot in Portland.

Did you have a background in sports from when you were young or in high school and college?

I grew up playing sports. My Dad played minor league Baseball here in Portland, the Portland Mavericks. They actually just made a movie about them. It’s called ‘The Battered Bastards of Baseball’. I also grew up playing Soccer, my family was big into Soccer. And When I went to high school, I picked up Water Polo. Played that through high school and college.

Whoa, really? I’ll have to check that out! I always wanted to try Water Polo, it seemed really cool.

Yeah, that’s the one thing, that’s why I love Kickball. It’s different. It’s not your Basketball or Softball (even though I got back into Softball). It’s an oddball sports, and I’ve always been attracted to oddball sports. Unfortunately Water Polo is just so oddball that there’s nowhere to play, no open pools where you can go join a pick-up game, which I would love. I think the closest one is in Newberg or something like that, and I’m not gonna drive all the way out there for that.

I used to have a crush on this girl that played Water Polo, she’d always have a green tint to her hair from the chlorine.

Yeah, Water Polo girls are the best. And they’re strong too, you know what I mean? You have to be in water for that amount of time. And it was the one sport where it was forgiving to have a little extra weight because you’re buoyant and don’t have to work quite as hard haha!

When do you think you’ll stop competing? Is there a finite goal you have?

Not really. When I started rec sports, it was because I had a really bad job that I pretty much hated. I started playing Dodgeball and it was a really good release, emotionally, so I could be ok with going to work. It was something to look forward to, then it just kinda snowballed out of control. Maybe if time didn’t allow me, because I had a family or this or that, but you know, I’d still want to play. I see people that are 50 years old still playing in the field, and that’s gonna be me. I’ll overhear someone use getting old as an excuse, but I know 56 year olds that run marathons. You just have to take care of yourself and have the desire to play.

Nobody can win them all, and failure is a big part of competing. How does that failure define you, and how have you continued this driving force when others would have given up?

I’m competitive and I like to win, and I tend to find myself on teams that also like to win, but I feel I have a different mentality behind it than they do. I’ve seen people get frustrated and pissed off, but if that was me, I wouldn’t let it stop me from playing. I play because I like it. and of course I like to win, but losing isn’t that big a deal to me. One of the funnest things about when I started Dodgeball, is that I sucked so bad at it. You just start like, so low because you have no concept of any kind of strategy or anything like that. The fun is in improving and being the best that you can be. I play on all kinds of different teams and skill levels, and the most fun teams are the ones where everyone is out there, and trying their hardest. I’ve left winning teams when they started getting ticked about errors and stuff like that, and that’s not why we play rec sports. We play because it’s fun and we enjoy cheering each other on and being excited. But keep in mind I still love winning championships; this summer has been unreal.

It’s been a good year for you!

Yeah. The Recesstime championship was probably the most meaningful. We’ve been playing together about a year and a half now, I’m one of the youngest on the team. But they’re all out there and they’re having fun. That was the most exciting for me because we we’re this rag-tag team, and just learned how to play together after we learned everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.

What’s your mentality out on the field? Are you trying to visualize, or are you a blank slate and just reacting to the situation?

I’m all about strategy and doing what’s best. In Dodgeball, once I learned where to [position myself], I do visualize like, “If the ball goes here, I’ll do this. And if it goes there I’ll do that”. But now that I’ve played Dodgeball longer, I’m not conscious of these things anymore, a lot of it now is reactionary. I like seeing new players out there, because I like helping people figure out how to do things. I’m a teacher, so it’s fun to be kind of a coach in that situation. We did bunting practice the other day, and it was just fun to help other people improve themselves. It makes me happy to see others trying their best and improving. Not that they have to be the very very best, they’re still having fun learning.

What do you think of Portland’s Dodgeball community? Are we developing some great Dodgeball teams these days?

Portland is huge on rec leagues in general, Dodgeball in particular. We had 4 Portland teams go to the Las Vegas Dodgeball World Championships back in August. One of the teams won it, and another came in 3rd. Oregon and Oregon State have club Dodgeball too, so it’s starting to become a bigger thing. People are getting into it younger and people love it. Seattle is big on Dodgeball and they have tournaments up there. The kids love Dodgeball too. There was a time, still is, that school banned Dodgeball because they thought it was too aggressive. But there are reasons we go out and play sports. It’s to learn how to be a team player and be able to find that eagerness to improve yourself and be a good sport. And everyone can be an athlete whether they are good or bad. Anyone can win, but a true athlete can also lose humbly and with integrity. And that’s a good example to set for our kids. They’ll grow up to be people that want to go out and be active. I know people that don’t even go out for a run because they look funny when they run, and that’s ridiculous. You should be active because it makes you feel good, and not let the fear of failure stop you. You’re only competing with yourself.

Lastly, if you could give one gift to humanity, what would it be? Everyone would just get it instantly, and it doesn’t have to be sports related.

MY: Empathy. I’d give people more empathy to understand other people and who they are as far as what they are carrying with them. One of my biggest pet peeves is road rage. Because so many people’s lives are crossing in any given second. That person might have just had the worst day, and now they’re [acting out] giving it to you and you’re gonna carry it forward. If people had more empathy, they wouldn’t mistreat each other so much. That’s one of the things I work on in my class, if I can help kids learn to interact with each other and be respectful with each other and carry that with them, then I think I’ve done a good job. It’s about helping them be good people.

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