The player had to convince himself he had no option but to make a dangerous, illegal tackle -- and so he deliberately lunged at his opponent. The head coach and assistant coach who forced the student into this situation have no right to instruct players.
Former Nihon University American football head coach Masato Uchida has denied directing a player on his team to commit the dangerous tackle. "It wasn't an instruction from me," Uchida said.
Assistant coach Tsutomu Inoue has admitted telling the player to "crush" a Kwansei Gakuin University player. However, Inoue explained this was intended to mean the player should "play with fighting spirit." Inoue insisted the word "crush" did not mean injure an opponent.
At a press conference the previous day, Taisuke Miyagawa, the player who made the dangerous tackle, said the former head coach and assistant coach had instructed him to commit the foul. It is regrettable that the statements of the coaches and this player -- who should share a relationship of trust -- at this university football powerhouse are diametrically opposed.
Earlier this month, Uchida told Miyagawa to decline a spot on the student national team. Miyagawa also was removed from the university's scrimmages.
It is easy to imagine a 20-year-old player in such a situation felt mentally driven into a corner. If a player is told by a coach to "crush" an opponent, they could understandably take this as an order to inflict an injury. On the day of the game against Kwansei Gakuin, Miyagawa felt that if he did not follow the order, he "would have no future."
Overhaul team culture
Of course, an illegal tackle is an action that cannot be condoned. However, it is the former head coach and assistant coach, who were unable to imagine Miyagawa's feelings, who should bear a heavy responsibility for this situation.
The two had been avoiding properly explaining what had happened. After Miyagawa's press conference, the coaches held their own press conference and denied the player's remarks. The coaches' reactive handling of this matter showed a remarkable lack of crisis management ability. The coaches can do nothing to avoid the criticism that their objective was to save their own necks.
Uchida said he had barely any direct communication with his players. The head coach had absolute authority over the team, and his intentions were conveyed through assistant coaches to the players. This bears the hallmarks of an out-dated, top-down organization.
Uchida said he will temporarily suspend himself from his position as a managing director at the university, and will refrain from his school duties. Inoue resigned as assistant coach. These coaches who failed to protect players should not return to the football field.
Unless the Nihon University football club fundamentally changes its organizational culture, it will be impossible to recover.
This incident came not long after the Japan Wrestling Federation admitted that Olympic star Kaori Icho had been subject to power harassment by Kazuhito Sakae, then head of the federation's athlete development.
It appears that the better the results chalked up by coaches, the greater the risk that they will become arrogant and give little regard to the players' positions. Coaches in every sport must lift their own standards of behavior.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 25, 2018)
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
