Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter
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Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter YAMAHA ASEAN CUP U‐13 FOOTBALL (2013) Spotlight: Sports Activities April 15, 2014 (Issue No. 16) Sports Activities Working in the communities to share Kando worldwide In its golden years, the Yamaha Football Club “Jubilo Iwata” won both halves of the 2002 season of the “J. League,” Japan’s professional football league, to become the uncontested league champions © Jubilo Yamaha Motor is a company dedicated to the mission of bringing Kando* and a more fulfilling life to people all over the world through the products we build. To accomplish this, in addition to the wide variety of products we offer that ranges from motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATVs and racing karts to motorboats, sailboats and personal watercraft, we have also actively promoted motorsport competitions, recreational and sporting events and product training programs. Through these activities, we have progressively built Yamaha’s sporty brand image. At the same time, we have spread our involvement beyond the realms of our products and business areas to include programs in major sports like football and rugby and other popular sports where we can pioneer “new Kando.” These efforts help in bringing together and motivating the employees of our group companies and affiliated business partners, as well as building bonds with the communities we live and work in and promoting and strengthening the Yamaha brand. In this issue, we introduce some of the sports activities that help spread and enrich the Yamaha brand image. *Kando is a Japanese word for the simultaneous feelings of deep satisfaction and intense excitement that we experience when we encounter something of exceptional value. Two “Jubilo” teams striving to be champions by learning the meaning of “world-class” On April 30th in 1999, eleven players from Yamaha FC Jubilo Iwata, the champions of the J. League (Japan’s professional football league) were on the pitch at the Azadi Stadium in Iran to contest the final match of the AFC Asian Cup tournament. Their opponent was the famed local team Esteghlal FC of Tehran and the stadium echoed with the deafening roar of 120,000 cheering fans in the stands. However, undaunted by the pressure, the Jubilo eleven played with bold determination on offense and defense. That aggressiveness paid off in the 12th minute of the game, when Jubilo scored the first goal of the match and another valuable goal just before the end of the first half, putting them up 2-0 going into the second half. The home team launched a relentless offensive in the second half and succeeded in scoring a goal, but that was all the Jubilo side would allow, as they won their first international match and were crowned Asian champions. Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 2 Six months later, Jubilo defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad FC in the Asian Super Cup to win the right to compete in the FIFA Club World Championship (current FIFA Club World Cup) tournament against champion clubs from each continent including Europe, South America and Africa. Unfortunately, the 2001 tournament was delayed and eventually cancelled, but that didn’t negate the fact that Jubilo Iwata had opened another door to competition on the international level. Yamaha Motor was better known for its prominence in motorsports and marine sports, but in 1972, it had also established the company football club that would become the forerunner of Jubilo Iwata. The team was created as part of a program to use sports activities as a platform for establishing roots and contributing to the community that became its new home when Yamaha Motor moved its headquarters from the city of Hamamatsu to Iwata. And true to the words of Yamaha Motor founder Genichi Kawakami that “If you’re going to do it, aim to be world-class,” Ryuichi Sugiyama, a former member of the Japanese national team that won the Bronze Medal at the Mexico Olympics, was invited to become the new team’s first manager. Also, taking advantage of the company’s worldwide corporate network, promising young players were sent to train on short-term exchanges in countries like the Netherlands and Brazil to help strengthen their competitive skills. In addition, the entire team repeatedly went abroad to play against strong teams in countries like Malaysia, Thailand, China and Hong Kong to gain experience in international competition that helped the team progress steadily. © Jubilo It was a process of learning and absorbing the skills Dunga (right) played on the Jubilo Iwata team of world-class football, and then developing a from 1995 to 1998. At the time, he was also unique style that could compete and win on the captain of Brazil’s national team world stage. This basic club policy was inherited when the team was reborn as Jubilo Iwata when Japan’s J. League began activities in 1993. With Yamaha Motor as its main sponsor, a succession of top international players including Gerald Vanenburg (the Netherlands), Salvatore Schillaci (Italy) and Dunga (Brazil) came to play for the Jubilo team along with a number of outstanding managers and coaches including the former Japanese national team manager, Hans Ooft (the Netherlands) and Luiz Felipe Scolari, who later became manager of the Brazilian national team. Under such leadership and playing with such international stars as teammates, Jubilo Iwata matured into one of Japan’s top teams that contributed numerous star players to the national team, such as Masashi Nakayama, Hiroshi Nanami and Naohiro Takahara. That tradition and pride lives on today with the outstanding players on the team hailing from Japan and abroad. Along with football, Yamaha Motor also has long been a strong and active presence in the sport of rugby in Japan. It began with a number of Yamaha employees getting together in 1982 to form a club with nothing more than two rugby balls. In 1984, its name was changed to the Yamaha Motor Rugby Club, and full-fledged efforts to strengthen the team began in 1987. Unlike the Jubilo pro football team, many of the players worked as Yamaha employees and also had to train during their working hours. Nonetheless, their earnest efforts paid off and before long they were competing for top rankings under the name “Yamaha Motor Jubilo” in the Top League, the highest tier of rugby in Japan. In 2014, three of the team’s players were chosen as members for Japan’s national team. Also, there are team members from such rugby powers as New Zealand and South Africa, as well as Malaysia. It is a team that forms a In the 2013-2014 season, Yamaha Motor Jubilo powerful scrum and is always competing at a high finished 5th in Japan’s Top League but proudly sent players to the national team, including one level. from overseas Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 3 The ever-present dream of these teams is to reach the pinnacle of international football and rugby. Though the road to realize that dream may still be long and hard, they continue to practice and play hard under the Júbilo name (meaning “jubilation” in Portuguese and Spanish) and with the Yamaha “Spirit of Challenge” toward the day when they can surprise everyone with their play and share Kando with people all over the world. Using football to bond with communities and bring countries together The kind of enjoyment of sport that the two Jubilo teams bring is by no means limited to the high level of competition and exciting plays of professional players. There is also the excitement of going to the stadium to cheer on the team with fellow fans that share of the passion for victory, and the familiarity that comes from spending time with the players in local events and getting to know their more personal sides that can’t be discovered during a match. There are also the outreach instruction programs for children, local teams and more that spread the joy of playing sports and build strong bonds between Yamaha, the clubs and the communities. This way of connecting with local communities through sports is something that goes on in a variety of forms at Yamaha Motor bases around the world. In recent years, this has become most prevalent at our bases in the ASEAN countries. Yamaha has long been promoting the spread and development of motorsports in this region—primarily in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. This has been done through the one-make YAMAHA CUP RACE series competitions, and the The YAMAHA ASEAN CUP U-13 FOOTBALL YAMAHA ASEAN CUP RACE we have held from 2003 tournament (photo from 2012 event in Malaysia) is an event that not only promotes international with our group companies to crown regional exchange between the young players but also champions. These activities have continued to attracts young people of the same age from the host countries to the stadium to cheer and share produce results for more than ten years now. in the excitement and Kando sports bring Then in 2008, the Yamaha Motor group companies in the region once again came together to launch the YAMAHA ASEAN CUP U-13 FOOTBALL tournament for youth players 13 and under. Also, in Vietnam our group company Yamaha Motor Vietnam Co., Ltd. (YMVN) cooperates with the country’s football association in supporting national U-13 and U-11 competitions. From 2012, YMVN also launched the “Yamaha Football Academy” that offers concentrated instruction and training camps for children 10 and under. In similar ways, our group companies in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia also work closely with their respective national football associations or local football clubs to contribute to the spread and development of youth football with activities like training schools and donating equipment.