Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter

Transcription

1 Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter YAMAHA ASEAN CUP U 13 FOOTBALL (2013) Spotlight: Sports Activities April 15, 2014 (Issue No. 16)

2 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 30 th 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 12 th 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

3 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 Dunga (right) played on the Jubilo Iwata team from 1995 to At the time, he was also captain of Brazil s national team It was a process of learning and absorbing the skills of world-class football, and then developing a unique style that could compete and win on the world stage. This basic club policy was inherited when the team was reborn as Jubilo Iwata when Japan s J. League began activities in 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 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 powerful scrum and is always competing at a high level. In the season, Yamaha Motor Jubilo finished 5 th in Japan s Top League but proudly sent players to the national team, including one from overseas Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 3

4 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 YAMAHA ASEAN CUP RACE we have held from 2003 with our group companies to crown regional champions. These activities have continued to produce results for more than ten years now. 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. As a team that strives to compete on the world level, Jubilo Iwata also participates in these programs in the ASEAN region. The team has established a cooperative agreement with one of Thailand s leading teams, Muang Thong United Football Club, that involves exchanges of players and advisers aimed at strengthening both teams and the football leagues of their countries. Jubio Iwata also participates in the youth football training program run by Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co., Ltd. (YMT). The team sends players and coaches to serve as instructors and is active in numerous ways to expand its activities overseas. The YAMAHA ASEAN CUP U-13 FOOTBALL tournament (photo from 2012 event in Malaysia) is an event that not only promotes international exchange between the young players but also attracts young people of the same age from the host countries to the stadium to cheer and share in the excitement and Kando sports bring In Taiwan, where baseball is one of the most popular sports, Yamaha promotes its own unique activities to contribute to the development of youth football with a national tournament and training schools, and everyone is working now in hopes of joining the YAMAHA ASEAN CUP U-13 FOOTBALL someday Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 4

5 Our wish to give back to the communities through the promotion and development of sports For Yamaha Motor, motorsports and all our other sports activities are an irreplaceable platform for promoting our products, business and brand. At the same time, they are meaningful as a form of communication that builds unity within our corporate group and with the people of the communities where we live and work. Contributing to the promotion and development of sports is also one way for us to return to society some of the profits we earn through our business. We believe it is no exaggeration to say that the achievements, know-how and bonds with people gained through our sports activities until now represent one of our most important corporate assets. This is why one of the programs launched to commemorate the 50 th anniversary of our corporate founding involved establishing the public-interest Yamaha Motor Foundation for Sports (YMFS) as a platform for putting these material and immaterial assets to the best use possible for the development of sports and sport culture, with the pure and simple hope of making a contribution to society. The Foundation gives grants and other forms of support The Yamaha Motor Foundation for Sports supports people and groups striving to realize their dreams in the world of sports. Among the recipients of this support are several Olympic and Paralympic athletes in the areas of sports promotion, instructor education, sports safety education, academic research and more. Masanori Suzuki from Yamaha Motor Company s General Affairs Division is responsible for sport promotion activities. Speaking about the reason for Yamaha Motor s long-term involvement in sports activities, he says, We can t help but be inspired at the sight of athletes competing with everything they ve got and never giving up. I m sure that most people have experienced this feeling. Being involved in sports that create unity, not only among the athletes but also the people who cheer for them, helps strengthen Yamaha s sporty brand image. It is also one and the same with our corporate mission of Creating Kando and it is also a kind of activity that directly expresses the Spirit of Challenge that has been at the heart of our corporate culture since the company s founding. Mr. Suzuki goes on to say, In our day-to-day business as well, I believe that if we re really passionate about creating products and offering services that exceed the customers expectations, our distributors and suppliers join us with equal passion, and through those products, that passion can be communicated to rev the hearts of the customers. Isn t the challenge we undertake to create this chain of passion the same as what we strive to do in our sports activities? I strongly believe that it is. Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 5

6 Message from the Editor This month, we talked about Yamaha Motor s activities in sports. When you re playing sports you feel a special connection with your teammates as well as the strong desire to win and a feeling of elation when you ve given it your all. The excitement is the same when you re on the edge of your seat thinking about the players on the field and cheering them on. The excitement one feels when playing or watching sports is something that is shared in our Revs your Heart Brand Slogan. Rev refers to revving up an engine, and the slogan is an expression of how Yamaha Motor treasures those exciting moments that stir people s hearts like the rising revs of an engine. Have you been to the Rev STATION yet? It s one of our platforms for delivering Rev to people everywhere. The setting is a futuristic research and development facility where people work to create new vehicles that excite people the way we envision in our Revs your Heart Brand Slogan. In the story, a female-type android named Trika, that works as a PR Manager at the Rev STATION, and a host of other interesting characters that put their passion, intelligence, hearts and souls into the task of creating vehicles with uniquely Yamaha technologies one after another. The first episode was released around the same time as the launch of the new TRICITY 3-wheeled commuter model in Thailand. In it, we meet the main character of the story, Nick, a young and talented engineer who is uncomfortable with his current job. After an extraordinary chain of events, he ends up as a part of a new crew of engineers at the Rev STATION, where he goes to work to bring the world an entirely new kind of vehicle. There are still more vehicles full of Rev to come from the Rev STATION, so please remember to visit the site! Mariko Saito Global PR Team, Public Relations & Advertising Division, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd Shingai, Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan TEL FAX saitoumar@yamaha-motor.co.jp *Prior to any use of the article(s) and photographs contained within this newsletter, please contact me. Yamaha Motor Monthly Newsletter 6