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A student from our university, Hachioji Campusreceived the Aichi Prefectural Governor's Award at the Japan Society for Sports Industry for their theme, "The essence of sports remains the same, even in sports for people with disabilities."

At the idea competition held at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Sports Industry, which took place on July 4th (Sat) and 5th (Sun), 2026, at the Chukyo University Nagoya Campus (Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture), Yuya Kobayashi (3rd year student in the Faculty Faculty of Economics), a member of Professor Yuji Kawakami's seminar in the Department of Department of Business Administration Faculty of Economics Teikyo University, received the Aichi Prefectural Governor's Award.

This competition was held with the main themes of "Connecting the Future of Sports and Cities from the Asian Para Games" and "Sports Facilities that Coexist with the Community." Ms. Kobayashi proposed a project titled "LINK RELAY - Beyond the Legacy - Experiential Sports Caravan 'Same Sports Experience' to the Nation," which involves developing a nationwide touring sports caravan that combines sports experiences and match viewing using downtime at the Games venues, aiming to broaden understanding of and interest in sports for people with disabilities.

Kobayashi, who serves as the captain of the Teikyo University Track and Field Club, worked as a coach and guide runner for visually impaired athletes at the All-Japan Para Sports Games, "WataSHIGA Shining Para Sports 2025." Through supporting the athletes she was in charge of and helping them win gold medals, she says she realized the high level of competition in para sports, the performance of the athletes, and the existence of many people who support the sport. This experience led her to feel a gap between the appeal of para sports and social recognition, which became the starting point for this proposal. In creating the proposal, she also conducted interviews with Para athletes and tournament officials to consider how to create a system that can convey the appeal of the sport to more people.
Upon receiving the award, Ms. Kobayashi said, "As an athlete myself, having participated in both types of competitions, I strongly felt that para-sports and able-bodied sports are essentially the same sport. This award was made possible thanks to the cooperation of many people, including Professor Kawakami, my seniors, and my fellow seminar students. I hope to convey the appeal of para-sports to more people and turn this proposal into a reality in the future."

In this competition, three proposals were ultimately selected for awards from 26 entries in the first round and 5 entries in the second round. Among them, Ms. Kobayashi's proposal, which combined her experience in competitive sports with her studies at university and aimed to realize an inclusive society through sports, was highly praised and received the Aichi Prefectural Governor's Award. Our university will continue to support the development of sports and actively promote students' proactive research activities and challenges toward solving social issues.

Click here for information about the Aichi/Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games.
Click here for information about Department of Business Administration Faculty of Economics
Teikyo University Track and Field Club Instagram is here
Click here for information on the 35th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Sports Industry.

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