MYNAVI SENDAI LADIES held a panel discussion with para-athletes and experienced para-sports on March 13th as a day of learning to realize “a society that recognizes diversity and makes everyone's life comfortable = a co-existing society”
The event took place at SENDAI SHIRAYURI GAKUEN in Sendai City. The club and SENDAI SHIRAYURI GAKUEN have been in active cooperation on player development (academy) activities, and have just signed a “Comprehensive Partnership Agreement on the Promotion of Local Sports and Culture” to further strengthen their relationship. On the day of the event, the academy players took an active role as operational staff. Many of them who joined the academy from outside of the prefecture study at SENDAI SHIRAYURI GAKUEN Junior High School and High school, and live in its dormitories.
Prior to the panel discussion, Ms. Mamai Tani, a para-athlete gave a keynote speech. Ms. Tani, who was born in Kesennuma City in Miyagi Prefecture, has competed in the Paralympics four times, including the Tokyo Games, which she contributed to the successful bid. At the Tokyo Games, she served as the flag bearer for the Japanese delegation at the opening ceremony and competed in triathlons.
Ms. Tani was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the winter of her sophomore year at Waseda University, thereafter living with a prosthetic leg. She spoke about the trials and tribulations of her journey from experiencing loss and despair to finding hope in sports and challenging herself to compete in the Paralympics.
The following panel discussion featured, in addition to Ms. Tani, Ms. Rika Suzuki, a Japanese representative of “blind soccer,” a sport played by the visually impaired, who is originally from Tome City in Miyagi Prefecture. From the club, Ms. Haruka Hamada, the captain of the team and a forward, and Ms. Kano Miyamoto, a forward who has recently made a comeback from a serious right knee injury and played her first official match in three years and four months, joined the panel.
The theme of the discussion was “Toward the ‘realization of a co-existing society’ in which everyone can continue to pursue their dreams and goals”. They shared their thoughts from their standpoints and experiences as female athletes and/or para-athletes in order to build a society where people can achieve their dreams and goals regardless of gender or handicap.
Ms. Suzuki introduced her own handicap, explaining that she has trouble changing trains and shopping in some situations. She told the audience not to think of visually impaired people as having difficulties, but instead to take a positive view of them. She then continued by saying “to value communication by talking to each other” with her appeal to the audience.
Ms. Hamada addressed the aspect of gender. During her adolescence, there were only two female players on her team, including herself. When one of them was absent, there was only one female player, and she sometimes had difficulties communicating with the male players and coaches. Ms. Tani also opened up her story by saying that when she returned to the sport after giving birth, there were few precedents in Japan, and she had to take a lot of trial and error in balancing parenting and competition.
Following the stories shared by the athletes in their various environments, Miyamoto said, “Listening to the stories of mutual support, I also want to try to do the same.” At the end, Hamada concluded the discussion by saying, "I would like to make an effort from the small things I can do to help realize a co-existing society.
A man in the audience said his awareness has changed: “It was great to hear some specific stories from the athletes. We have female employees at our company as well, so I want to do my best to be supportive of them.”
For the para-sports activities, all 28 players of the club were present. They enjoyed playing blind soccer, boccia, and sitting volleyball with the participants.
Blind soccer was played through the cooperation of Coruja Sendai, a club based in Sendai City, which Ms. Suzuki is a member of. When Ms. Suzuki dribbled and then took a brilliant shot, the gymnasium was filled with excitement. An elementary school girl wearing a blindfold said, "This was my first experience. I was scared at first, but it was fun," with her eyes shining.
Boccia is a game in which six red balls and six blue balls are thrown, and the one closest to the white target ball gets a point. Instruction was given by the Miyagi Para-Sports Association. While the children were delighted with their good plays, Ms. Fuka Nagano, a midfielder, said out loud “It's difficult!”, who looked a little frustrated as she found the ball did not roll as she wanted. Overall, it was an exciting game for everyone as all enjoyed competing together.
For sitting volleyball, which is played while sitting, a coaching role was offered by Dainienka Lizo Team, the only active team based in Miyagi Prefecture. Starting with an exercise to move around the gymnasium with their buttocks on the floor. Even though they could not move as they wanted, the players tried their best. When a spike was made from a toss in the game, all the players raised their hands high up and shard the joy and excitement together.
To close the event, Mr. Shunsuke Awai, president of the club, expressed his enthusiasm for future activities, saying, “We as a team will continue to work together with the players on the lessons we learned today”. On this WE ACTION Day, a major step was taken toward the realization of the club's philosophy, “To be the top club in Japan that nurtures ‘people’” and toward the creation of a co-existing society.
