Masami Iwasawa, an Introduction.

[CrazyCaityCat 65]

Masami Iwasawa had always felt like she was destined for something special. From as far back as she could remember she had a passion for two things. Music, and Ice Hockey. She was determined to make her presence felt, to touch the lives of those around her. She desperately wanted to make an impact. Music was her main outlet, it let her express her very soul. Hockey was a good backup that she really enjoyed, but that she couldn’t quite find out how to make it work for her desire to touch the lives of people. Then she caught a break. She was playing in an exhibition game for high schoolers in Hokkaido and a scout happened to be there. The scout immediately recognized her talent for defensive positioning and recruited her at once for the VHLM. She signed up as a free agent and immediately joined the Halifax 21^st. A city half the world away from her native Japan. She didn’t mind though, it was an opportunity to spread both her presence on the ice, and her music. The first thing she made sure to pack was her beloved guitar. Acoustic guitar solo artists weren’t exactly the biggest of fashions in Japan but she loved the sound that she could make with just her voice and an acoustic guitar.

 

When she arrived in Canada she quickly realized that the English they taught her in High School wasn’t quite sufficient in this new land where everyone had spoken it their whole lives. Also, it seemed that everyone spoke French as well, which is something that Masami had not expected. She would have a lot to learn if she wanted to fit in with these people here. She met her teammates, and her General Manager, and the lovely Assistant General Manager, and got settled in to her apartment near to the arena. It wasn’t much, it was kind of a rundown hole in the wall if she was honest, but she didn’t mind that one bit. Once she unpacked she grabbed her guitar and went down to the front of the arena to check out where she might set up. Eventually she found a nice spot with a lot of foot traffic and she set up her kit and began to play. She sang in Japanese but it wasn’t about the lyrics anyway, it was about the emotion. Emotion that she had to spare and willingly gave to anyone who would stop for a moment and listen. Those who did stop were amazed at this person who was singing in a language they could not understand, yet they felt that they could understand what she wanted to convey perfectly. She sang ballads mostly, a couple pure love songs, and even one upbeat pop type song. Eventually she wrapped it up for the night, collected her tips as though she were any other street performer and not a soon to be VHLM player singing in front of her own arena, and went back to her little apartment. She was very happy with this development and could not be more excited about the future.

 

521 words

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by CrazyCaityCat

[jRuutu 2,302]

9/10

 

Nice article! I liked the backstory about Iwasawa and how she got into VHLM. It was also cool to read about her musical career and how she still kept playing in a foreign country, a cool story.

 

Picture of some kind, and perhaps space or two could help lift the visual side of this article, but that's about it for improvements from me.

[Hoopydog 195]

I always lie to read these kinds of article and media spots as you get to learn about that player's backstory and you feel like you get to know them a bit better. I like that everything about her and her hockey career relates back to her music. The piece is laid out quite well but maybe include so headings next time, just to make it a bit easier to read. All in all, good job!

 

9/10