Announcing the results of the "#SportsIWantToSupport" contest held by ASICS!
For about two months starting April 15th, ASICS held the "#SportsIWantToSupport" contest on note. During this period, we received 5,982 submissions. Thank you for posting such works filled with a love for sports.
For a list of entries on note, please see here.
As a result of the judging by ASICS Award judges Michael Leitch, Yoshihide Kiryu, Ryusei Shinoyama, and Yu Darvish, note Award judges Kamo Aso, Tetsuichi Utsunomiya, and Yuka Maeda, and the ASICS Sports Support Project Secretariat, the winners have been decided as follows.
We hope these works will lead everyone to discover new sports and provide an opportunity to support them.
Now, we will announce the winning works!
ASICS Award
■ Michael Leitch
Rugby and Me. / Oesaki
The title was so simple that I was curious about the content, and as I read on, I found myself laughing before I knew it. The illustration of carrying donuts during a match was particularly funny.
After the World Cup, I've had many interviews and read many articles about it, and what I've realized is that 90% of them are similar. I started to wonder what new rugby fans were looking at and what they felt that made them become rugby fans.
I think for many people, the reasons are that the team is working hard, the team is strong, the players are cool, the collisions, the fast players, or the powerful players. I think there are many ways to watch a game depending on the fan, but reading this essay made me realize that there are people who watch games in this way.
Since I was the captain last year, I often used movies to explain various things to team members, but I would like to explain things this way in the future, and I will try watching games this way when I watch them.
Thank you very much.
Cervical spine fracture during practice, limbs became disabled. "Even so, I want to repay rugby" / SpoLive
First of all, I felt the passion for rugby.
I was very inspired by the desire to become strong from a young age and the desire to repay rugby even after being injured. I imagine there were many hardships before reaching that mindset.
And I was moved to see you using your YouTube channel to send messages, advice, support, and activities to raise understanding of life in a wheelchair to many people. I think the greatest purpose of being a captain is to help people. I don't know if leadership is something gained from a young age or through rugby, but I have great respect for Mr. Kanazawa, who lives his life without wavering no matter what happens.
The biggest reason I became captain was because I wanted the world to respect Japanese rugby. I wanted to prove that Japanese people are strong. I wanted to prove that the hard work I've done playing rugby in Japan was not in vain. Japan is definitely number one in the world in terms of training volume and intensity. Leaving the results of that hard work at the World Cup is my motivation.
I will turn the inspiration I received from Mr. Kanazawa into fuel and do my best to become stronger than ever before.
Thank you very much.
■ Yoshihide Kiryu
"This body that is close yet far": The body is truly far away / Former rhythmic gymnast Rollpanna
The reason I chose this work as a winning entry is that the author places importance on "internal sensation" and the "body" within the text, and there were parts I could empathize with.
To talk a little about myself, I think it is important to believe in your internal sensations and body during track and field practice. In the modern age, there is a lot of weight training and running training, and there are many things that say if you do this, you will get faster, or if you do this, it will be good. I think there are good things about that, but conversely, I think there are many people who believe in it just because science is evolving, even though they feel it doesn't suit their own body. It's not all bad, but I don't think science always suits your own body, so I think it's important to believe in your internal sensations and body precisely because we are in an information society.
I also practice what I have learned with my body as a sensation during my own training. For example, finishing 100m between 13.10 and 13.20 seconds. For me, with a personal best of 9.98, it is easy to run a 13.10. But what is important here is whether I can practice the distance and time to finish between 13.00 and 13.50 seconds with my body. I think it would be impossible for an ordinary person to run that 0.5-second difference by sensation. This is one of the things you learn with your body.
Precisely because we are in an information society, I think we see and hear various things.
Among them, I think there are practices and awareness that suit you and those that don't, even if science says they are good. Knowing yourself and choosing what is necessary is also part of the fun of playing sports.
I don't think there is such a thing as wrong practice; even if that practice didn't suit you, the fact that you were able to think it didn't suit you is proof of progress compared to before you tried it.
Knowing yourself is something you can continue to do for the rest of your life. I want to continue playing sports while enjoying daily discoveries and changes.
■ Ryusei Shinoyama
When a person who had tasted the inferiority complex of not being able to exercise became someone who could, I shouted "NISHINO----!!" / Yagi Mail/tetsuya kimura
Perhaps there is an image that sports are things done by people who are generally fast, can jump higher than others, or are what are generally called "people with good athletic ability," and that those are the people who can enjoy them.
And perhaps there was a part of me in the past that thought that way too.
However, reading this person's note reminded me once again that sports are something that anyone can enjoy and find charm in, regardless of basketball, and it was a post that reminded me of the origin that sports are meant to be enjoyed.
The writing, which feels like reading a novel and has a sense of presence that makes the scene pop into your head, is also very attractive. For me, who makes a living from sports and fights every day, it was a post that washed my heart and allowed me to regain the original sense of "enjoyment."
Vol.3 Atsuya Ota, The Big Man Covered in Mud / Takeshi Ichiki
Reading this post brought back memories of Atsuya Ota.
I think the first time I talked to Atsuya Ota was around 2016, when I was first called up to the Japan national team. I saw him being teased by various young players, but since he was my senior from university, I think I treated him carefully and politely as a senior and junior.
But one day, I still can't forget him saying to me, "Ryusei is the only one in the current national team who doesn't tease me. I feel a distance, so I'm lonely." I was moved by the fact that there is such a kind person with such a big heart. I'm shy, but since then, I feel like I've gradually become friends with Atsu-san and the other national team players.
In an interview with such a kind Atsu-san, there are words that remain deeply in my heart. "A skilled player and a good player are different." When I read those words in the article, it made a lot of sense, and I had a period where I was worried because I didn't have a standout weapon, but I thought it was a phrase that gave me confidence, and I feel that Atsu-san is exactly one of the people who has supported the Japan national team as a "good player."
I hope you all read this award-winning article and go see an Atsuya Ota game.
■ Yu Darvish
That summer, I became a historic war criminal. / Keisuke Nishida
Since the high school baseball qualifying tournaments, the invitational, and the summer Koshien were all canceled this year, it is very unfortunate that students could not have these experiences.
There may have been mistakes, but I believe their teammates saw them working hard in their daily practice.
The fact that "the cheers from friends, alumni, and locals increased every time they won" shows that they were a wonderful team that people "wanted to support." This was truly an episode that fit the "Sports I Want to Support" project perfectly!
note Award
■ Kamo Asai
I can no longer remember the color of the tears I saw that summer / Chu(ΦωΦ)SaunaIkitai
We support people precisely because we like them. Supporting someone, or being supported by someone—you might not realize it at the time. But that support likely pushes our lives forward somewhere along the way. I read this not as an essay, but as a coming-of-age novel.
Sports I want to support. It sounds simple when put into words, but I feel it was actually quite a difficult theme. The entries this time could be broadly divided into those with sports as the main theme and those with support as the main theme, and I personally struggled quite a bit with which one to choose in the end.
The desire to have people know about a sport you love, to convey how obsessed you are with it—that intense passion is clearly packed into the works that have sports as their theme. After reading several of them, I felt inclined to try watching a sport I hadn't been very interested in before. On the other hand, many of the works where support was the main theme were filled with the joy and sadness of people living together, something everyone feels at turning points in their lives, and these also made me nod in agreement.
While reading the many entries submitted this time, I was thinking that support might be about standing one step away from where you usually are, or perhaps floating just a few centimeters off the ground, filled with the sensation of being released from the daily grind. I think all the works that remained in the final selection made me feel that extraordinary sensation through their writing.
Thank you for the many submissions.
■ Tetsuya Utsunomiya
The story of how my team made their dream come true after I wrote a blog every day for 3 months. / Emu Aoki | Emu
In the "#SportsIWantToSupport" competition, the most impressive entry was "The story of how my team made their dream come true after I wrote a blog every day for 3 months" by Emu Aoki. I would like to reconsider the reasons for this.
The writers of the entries this time fell into three broad categories: "reporters," "fans," and "support staff." Of these, the one I am personally least comfortable with is the third, "support staff," and the prime example of this is the manager of a sports club. Emu-san was exactly that—a manager for a university soccer team—and for some reason, she was assigned to the "2nd team" in her fourth year.
I consider the culture of pushing the position of manager, where so-called "self-sacrifice" tends to be glorified, onto female students to be a "relic of the Showa era." As someone who belonged to soccer clubs in high school and university, I had no doubts or discomfort about pushing all the miscellaneous chores onto female managers back then. I am ashamed of my own ignorance and indifference at the time, and I hope that the culture of female managers will fade away as soon as possible.
However, there is no hint of such self-sacrifice in Emu-san's note. There is not a shred of the feeling that she is "being made to do it." So, what drove her? She writes as follows:
《At that time, in front of me, behind the top team that easily caught people's eyes, there were players who continued to fight in a gritty, dedicated, and never-give-up manner. At that moment, I felt strongly. I want to deliver the players' hard work to more and more people. It would be a waste to keep the thoughts of each and every person here just here!》
And so, she began interviewing all the players (105 of them). In three months, she uploaded interview articles for all the players and student staff. The manager blog, which had only had two articles the previous year, increased to 110 articles after Emu-san took charge, and by making full use of SNS announcements, more fans started coming to the 2nd team's matches. She said that the parents of players living far away were also very grateful.
Regarding her own work, Emu-san concludes in her note:
《I couldn't contribute directly in the form of "playing soccer," but thanks to the fact that I kept thinking and acting on "what can I do, and how can I engage with the same passion as everyone else," I was able to rejoice with them from the bottom of my heart. That fact made me happier than anything else.》
To repeat, I still have a certain level of resistance to the culture of female managers. However, in Emu-san's case, she was able to gain the valuable experience of "the team making their dream come true" as a result of continuing to support the players. I found that story to be extremely excellent and precious.
I also read Emu-san's other note articles. Although she became a working adult this year, she was suddenly switched to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in such circumstances, I could feel her positive attitude and desire to learn straight from her writing. I liked her writing style, which carefully and steadily weaves words together, rather than the so-called "viral" way of writing.
Please, keep writing.
■ Yuka Maeda
Flying Wheelchair / King Kazu
When the postponement of Tokyo 2020 was decided, and I was vaguely feeling anxious about the future, what reached my ears were the words of Kunieda-senshu in this news: "Sports cannot exist without peace." I felt the strength of Kunieda-senshu as an athlete in his words, and I clearly remember deciding to use this period as a time to rethink the value of sports.
Knowing that Kunieda-senshu's words reached the heart of King Kazu, who didn't know Kunieda-senshu until then, I thought it was a piece of writing that once again highlights the charm of para-athletes as human beings.
Even now, when matches, which are the stage for athletes, cannot be held easily, I feel that the core strength of athletes and their strength as human beings have become a hope in this unstable world, and that sports have become a light illuminating society.
While praying for peaceful days to return as soon as possible, I, like King Kazu, sincerely hope to see Kunieda-senshu on the court at the 2021 Paralympics.
Sports Trigger Award
"Keep spinning your wheels." A message from Shunsuke Nakamura / Daisuke Shiohata
[Online Photo Exhibition] Athlete Smiles Exhibition in note / yumi/Nurse Photographer
I'm lacking exercise, so I tried 'provisional enlistment' / Kanatta
What a guy over 40 thought after suddenly starting skateboarding / Tyranno Co., Ltd.
Until an otaku gets hooked on surfing / ice | Hatsumi Ienaga
When I see those hands, I just want to support them / Uta Mizuno
A battle of wits in the extreme world: The world of cycle road racing / K.Higashi/note inc.
General Comments
■ ASICS Support Project
When we first planned the "#SportsIWantToSupport" hashtag, we imagined the excitement of being in a stadium. As the situation where enjoying sports together remained restricted, the meaning of "support" shifted to "assistance," and we decided to hold this contest because we wanted to share feelings with those who love sports through note.
For the "Sports Catalyst Award," our management team selected posts about taking on new sports challenges and realizations gained through sports. We hope this contest itself serves as a catalyst for someone as well.
Thank you very much to everyone who participated in the contest.