No. 6: Chuo Koutou Gakuin and Tokyo Verdy

To all the partners of Tokyo Verdy who have been supporting our club in various ways for your own special reasons: we hope to go beyond the relationship framework we have had with our sponsors, and build a community in the future where the club and our corporate partners can walk hand-in-hand together.

 

This project, entitled “ONE FLAG: Creating new value with our corporate partners,” allows comrades of the Verdy family to come together and discuss their thoughts and feelings about the future.

 

In this way, we can share our ideas with one another and look towards a future that we can build together.

 

For the sixth installment of this series, we are featuring Chuo Koutou Gakuin, who has been supporting us for more than 10 years since 2008. Not only do they send their students to our home games as part of their volunteering activities, the school also supports us during the annual GREEN DAY and the operation of the Kizuna Booth on that day.

 

Joining us for this interview are Mr. Akira Saito, deputy director of Chuo Koutou Gakuin (in the photo, center), who hopes to achieve the school’s ideal of having its students become accomplished in both the academic and sporting fields through involvement in sports like soccer, and Yudai Suzuki (in the photo, left) from the partner sales department of Tokyo Verdy, who hopes to contribute to the children’s sincere activities.

 

Our facilitator is Taito Yagihara (in the photo, right) from re-trigger Co., Ltd., another one of Tokyo Verdy’s corporate strategy partners. The interview will be about the relationship between sports, soccer and education, the activities during GREEN DAY, and their plans for the future.

 

(Name honorifics are omitted going forward) 

 

The experience of getting involved in sports

 

Yagihara　 We hope these interviews will be a good opportunity for the club and its partners to think about ways to mutually enhance each other’s value, and come up with measures together to achieve their desired outcomes. This sixth installment features Chuo Koutou Gakuin.

 

For starters, I think even our supporters might not know our club’s corporate partners well, so shall we begin with an introduction of your school?

 

Saito　Yes. I look forward to your support today! Our school, Chuo Koutou Gakuin, is a correspondence senior high school that has entered into a partnership with Verdy.

 

There is a private correspondence school named Chuou International High School in Onjuku, Chiba Prefecture, and our school provides support to the students there for their reports and studies. Our school also has campuses in places such as Kichijoji, Harajuku, Ikebukuro, and Yokohama so the students can choose the place where they wish to study.

 

Yagihara　Thank you very much. Then, can you please let us know how you became a partner of Verdy?

 

Saito　Yes, one of the main reasons is the change in status of correspondence high schools. After World War II, part-time and correspondence high schools were created so that everyone can have fair access to education even if they were working. However, many of the students attending our schools these days are those who refuse to go to school.

 

Chuo Koutou Gakuin is a school that supports such children who cannot attend school every day for various reasons, so that they can graduate successfully from senior high school. The number of such children who refuse to go to school increases gradually each year, despite the fact that the number of children is actually decreasing due to an ageing population.

 

Of course, it depends on the individual, but we do have children who stopped attending school as early as from their 3^rd year in elementary. This means that their learning progress has fallen behind for as long as 7 years by the time they reach the third year of junior high school. Hence, they need to make up for this huge gap during the three years of their senior high school education.

 

Besides academic studies, it is also important for them to get involved in club activities and sports. I think it’s rare to hear about a child who runs 5km per day despite being unable to attend school.

 

Yagihara　That’s true! You probably wouldn’t have the emotional capacity to think of sports with all the issues that you have.

 

Saito　It is very difficult to get such children to exercise through participation in club activities. Hence, rather than telling them to get involved directly in sports, a simulated experience through activities related to sports might help them.

 

I played soccer for a long time, and I know firsthand how people interact through this sport, and what kind of experience would be derived from playing soccer. In addition, there are so many adults of different professions who are involved in a single professional soccer match. We wanted the students to know what goes on behind the scenes in such events, so that they can observe this side of society which they don’t know much about. That was what gave us the desire to form a partnership with a professional sports club.

 

While thinking about this, we were introduced to Verdy, which is a famous club, so we thought that a partnership with them would serve our aim of developing the students to become good in both studying and sports.  

 

Volunteering is an important part of career education

 

Yagihara　I see, thank you. That’s good to hear. Can you share with us the specifics on the volunteering staff arrangements?

 

Saito　 During Verdy’s home games, we dispatch our students to become volunteer staff, and  they get involved in duties such as checking tickets at the entry points and giving directions to the spectators. Generally, we have about 5 to 20 people taking part in each match, and I feel sorry that we can’t send more students to help out.

 

Suzuki　No, actually, we are seeing an almost-full turnout of the needed number of volunteers during most of our recent matches.

 

Saito　Recently, these numbers have gradually stabilized, which we think is due to the kind treatment of the supporters towards the students. The children were usually very nervous and always looked downwards when they first started volunteering. However, when the supporters said “thank you” to the children, this had a great positive impact on them.

 

Receiving gratitude from other people is a very significant experience to these children, who hardly felt needed by others. Hence, even volunteering for one time would be immense for them. We call this the “Thank You Project,” where the students would get a boost in their spirits by getting involved in soccer.

 

Yagihara　That’s a great story to hear!

 

Saito　Meanwhile, this project can also be seen as an internship. Usually, only the university and vocational school students would get such working experience before they graduate, so for a senior high school student to get the same experience is very valuable. They can see how many people other than the players are involved in the sport, and this experience actually helps some children find their desired career paths as a result.

 

Yagihara　So what led the students to participate in this project?

 

Saito　I think their homeroom teachers also reached out to them, but another factor is the fact that it is also an opportunity for parents to participate in an activity together with their children at the beginning of the academic year. Through this experience, parents can also learn something even if they are not actually playing the sport.

 

If parents and their children can participate in this continuously for three years, they may be more willing and enthusiastic to take part in other activities in future.

 

Yagihara　Speaking of enthusiasm, there is this major event called GREEN DAY.

 

Saito　That’s right! We get a higher number of volunteers than usual to support the stadium’s operations in this manner. From early morning, we get as many as 1,000 students to help with various duties such as cleaning the stadium’s premises and seats, which is a huge achievement when conducted on such a large scale.

 

Yagihara　The next GREEN DAY will be held on 5 October during the Okayama match, so are there any highlights we should pay attention to?

 

Saito　To be honest, most of the children are not mentally prepared for this event, so it would be great if the supporters can offer words of encouragement and gratitude to them. Once they hear such compliments, they will grow to like soccer and the stadium even more.

 

Suzuki　We also have this arrangement called Kizuna Booth, where the students make merchandise to sell, and all proceeds are donated to charity. This has been going on ever since the East Japan earthquake and tsunami crisis happened.

 

Saito　Although we started this initiative due to the earthquake, we also developed the Kizuna Booth as part of the children’s career education. From conceptualizing the products, to making and selling them, as well as donating the proceeds, they are able to take part in the entire process.

 

 In society, only those who are business owners or managers can probably see how a project translates into monetary gains. We let our students experience the same while they are still in senior high school. Thanks to the support of various parties, we can provide them with an invaluable experience.

 

In addition, it is important for the students to see who they are doing such activities for. Every year, we send students to become volunteers in places that have been hit by natural disasters. Hence, through these experiences, we hope they will grow up to become adults who can lend a helping hand to those in need. 

 

Suzuki　Yes, they put in so much effort every year. This time, they are selling handmade misanga bracelets as taught by their teachers. I think it’s very important for our spectators to know about the effort and thought put into each bracelet made by the students.

 

Giving rise to a fundamental change through cooperation

 

Saito　There aren’t that many private senior high schools who work together with sports clubs just like this, especially when it comes to business cooperation. As such, we hope to have Verdy’s help in leading more of these children directly by tapping on their potential.

 

For example, I think it will be nice to have the children get involved in activities to increase the number of Verdy supporters. It is easier for children to see the success of their experience through actual numbers as if they are really working as interns. If Verdy gives the go signal, we are looking at several thousands of potential salesmen! 

 

Yagihara　That’s correct. It can only be a good thing for Verdy to increase its supporter base.

 

Saito　To begin with, about 2,000 people take part in GREEN DAY every year, so all of these people can become supporters. I think we’ll need specific measures to make this a reality.

 

Suzuki　That’s something which we should definitely consider! At present, there are some issues and problems in our hometown activities, so it’s been difficult for us to go door-to-door in shopping streets and residences and talk to people. If we can’t even draw crowds of 10,000 people while we are in the J2 league, there’s no way we can attract 20,000 to 30,000 people even if we get promoted to the J1 league.

 

Saito　If we have several thousands of salespeople, that situation will change. We have been working together for more than 10 years, and the team has been in the J2 league for 11 years. Hence, we will face this situation where many children wouldn’t know about Verdy unless they are familiar with soccer.

 

The amount of exposure in the J2 league is limited, so in the case of a child who is in the 6^th grade this year, he or she wouldn’t know about a club that has been in J2 from the time they were born.

 

Suzuki　That’s true. Hence, we have to try to increase the supporter base through hometown activities now, or else we will see a decrease of supporters in the future. We have to do this regardless of what happens.

 

 

Saito　Since we are doing this with each other’s interests in mind, we should try to come up with results that can be seen. By increasing the number of supporters, the club will have more financial resources, and we will be able to make the team stronger if there are more reinforcement funds to use.

 

Yagihara　It’s because we are walking on this journey together that we are able to hear your views on what should be done. I’m really thankful for it.

 

Suzuki　I feel the same way. Although we hear a lot from our partners that we should work hard in getting more spectators to the matches, there are few who actually tell us that they would like to work together with us like this. We would be glad to work on other things together besides the Thank You Project.

 

Yagihara　So is there any likelihood of working on collaboration projects with other partners?

 

Saito　As Verdy has the image of having content from various industries, I think we should capitalize on this. Rather than doing one-off events, we want to do something which can truly contribute to Verdy in the long run.

 

Instead of being restricted within the traditional framework of a sponsor in Japan, we should increase the number of activities that can boost the spectator base, like what they do overseas. We should definitely discuss further what we can do about it.

 

This type of arrangement is hardly seen in Japan, which is exactly we should get Verdy to be the first in Japan to do it. We should maintain the pride of always being at the forefront and ahead of our competitors.

 

 

 Suzuki　That’s right. We are at that stage when we need to do something, and fast.

 

Saito　I think we’ve been too busy chasing after something that’s right in front of us without making any radical changes. However, from the perspective of the children’s education, what we need is for Verdy to become a presence that can make them become more passionate.

 

Actually, Tokiwa Satoshi, who used to play in Tokyo Verdy until 2014, is a graduate of our school. After he went to university, he started playing in Mito and Kitakyushu before he moved to Verdy, and I was extremely touched to see that. I think we can expand the influence of our partnership further in this manner.

 

Yagihara　Verdy is a club that can cause a revolution in the industry, and now is the time for the club to undergo a change. I hope that this translates into concrete actions which can be undertaken quickly. Thank you very much for sharing your passionate stories today!

 

Suzuki　Thank you very much!

 

Saito　Thank you very much!

 

Yagihara　Thank you to the both of you! I was very impressed and happy to note that sports clubs can help to support education and bring about the catalyst for children to change.

With a potential sales team of several thousand people, there is a lot to expect in the future if the collaboration in hometown activities and expansion of the supporter base truly materializes.

Verdy, with their pioneering spirit, should definitely be the first among the competition to do something like this. I think this will help to propel the club to undergo much-needed change and evolution.

 

 

 Writer: Shimon Watanabe / Photographer: Masato Ishibashi