University students across the nation are making efforts to give a boost to next year's Tokyo Paralympics, such as by introducing Paralympic sports on social media and holding events where participants can experience such sports. As some Paralympic events remain relatively unknown in Japan, sports associations pin hopes on the activities of such students.
Interns play key role in PR
"What kind of plays would you like people to watch?" asked Sachi Ono, a junior of Ferris University's Faculty of Global and Intercultural Studies in Yokohama, during an interview with a player at a wheelchair tennis event in Sendai in August.
Ono, 20, is one of 42 public relations interns hired by the Nippon Foundation Paralympic Support Center in Minato Ward, Tokyo. The interns are tasked with introducing the charms of Paralympic sports from their perspective as students. In addition to players' enthusiasm, Ono conducted interviews with a high school student who worked as a volunteer for the event and an official of a tennis racket company to write articles about the attractiveness and rules of the sport. She then posted her articles on Facebook. After covering the event, she introduced interesting points unique to wheelchair tennis, in which players are allowed two bounces of the ball before returning it, while writing, "If you see the sport live, you will feel its power and speed," and "I've been fascinated by the sport."
Some posts by such interns receive more than 1,000 views. "The students' candid words tend to be well-received by those who aren't familiar with the sport," said Rui Sasaki, 34, head of the public relations office of the Japan Wheelchair Tennis Association. "They've also brought out the charms of the sport well."
Efforts to remove barriers
At Juntendo University in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, students of the Faculty of Health and Sports Science and others have formed a parasports club. The club, which has about 70 members, holds promotional events that allow participants to experience parasports at elementary and junior high schools and companies. These sports include boccia, in which players compete over the distance between a thrown ball and a target ball, and goalball, in which blindfolded players aim to get a ball into an opponent's goal. Ahead of the 2020 Paralympics, the club said it has received an increasing number of requests to hold such events.
"We want to remove barriers between disabled and able-bodied people," Shunsuke Mazume, 21, a health and sports science senior, said.
Kitasato University in Minato Ward, Tokyo, has a wheelchair basketball club that also has members without disabilities. Besides participating in competitions, the club also conducts events to introduce the charms of the sport to junior high school and high school students and others.
"We want to be of some help to change the general view toward disabled people," said Yuika Yokota, 20, captain of the club and a junior at the university's School of Allied Health Sciences.
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