Japanese players, cheerleaders here for tackle football by Dennis Fujimoto – The Garden Island The lofty goal of the National Pop Warner Championship crept closer for a few football players Monday. Kaoru Kubota, president of the Chestnut League in Osaka,
Japanese players, cheerleaders here for tackle football
by Dennis Fujimoto – The Garden Island
The lofty goal of the National Pop Warner Championship crept closer for a few football players Monday.
Kaoru Kubota, president of the Chestnut League in Osaka, Japan, descended onto Isenberg Field with 34 players and nine cheerleaders from the Osaka Bengals to break ground for the 18-year-old Japanese league.
“They have full pads, but they only play two-hand touch,” Pop Warner Wescon Commissioner Edmund Acoba said. “They want to learn tackle so they can attain their goal of being in the National championships in three years.”
Earlier in the summer, Kubota and several of his coaches were on island for the Speed & Quickness clinics put on by University of Hawai‘i coaches Rich Miano and Mel DeLaura.
While on Kaua‘i, Kubota firmed up the Bengals’ trip with Mel Rapozo and officials of the Lihu‘e Pop Warner Association who will host the Japanese contingent through Wednesday.
“We will be having a tree-planting on Tuesday afternoon,” said Rapozo in a voicemail. Rapozo, who has been following the progress of the Chestnut League, was stricken by a cold bug and unable to interact with the team while they are here.
“Practice Monday through Wednesday is the most important part of their trip,” Rapozo said.
“They will leave following a farewell lu‘au Wednesday evening at the Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center.”
In preparation for their first practice, county anti-drug coordinator Roy Nishida arranged to have DeLaura and several University of Hawai‘i football players work with the Japanese team on a Speed & Quickness clinic Monday.
“The Bengels were selected because they were the champions of the Chestnut League last year,” Kubota said. “There are 31 teams in the league and the championship is played on Dec. 24 and broadcast live nationally.”
Kubota, who also heads up the QB Club in Japan, said he has been involved with the NFL for several years, serving as the broadcaster for Super Bowls X through XXV that were beamed to Japan via satellite.
Acoba said the Chestnut League is the feeder program for Kwansei High School that enjoyed a sister school relationship with Kaua‘i High School for several years.
Four months following the passing of Joe Tomlin of the Pop Warner League, Kubota started the Chestnut League with six teams to fulfill one of Tomlin’s desires to form youth football programs in Japan.
The Osaka Bengals enjoy a 22-year history in Japan. Head coach Kunihiro Ikeno had the privilege of attending a Cincinnati Bengals’ summer camp as a quarterback.
Numbering 99 players and 157 cheerleaders, a flier produced by Kubota states, “Our Jr. High School team always advances to championship games and has won the title twice in the past.”
In 1994, 40 players, coaches and staff visited Santa Clara, Calif. for the Pop Warner Super Bowl. That was the first trip for the Bengals and theKaua‘i trip is only their second, Kubota said.
“This visit to Kaua‘i is considered the first step toward exchanges among United States and Japan in the future,” Kubota said.
