This October, Hiroshima Dragonflies will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the club’s founding. He is one of the key figures who helped the club, which started its first year in the B League in B2 due to poor financial conditions, grow through trial and error, overturning the established theories such as “East is high, West is low” and “Regional clubs cannot compete at the top.” This is Nobuyoshi Ura, who was appointed president in 2016. We asked President Ura, who continues to strive for the development of basketball in his hometown of Hiroshima, about his progress so far and his future prospects.
“I feel like we are now starting to enter a ‘positive spiral.'”
──This season will mark your 8th year as president. How do you look back on your progress so far?
There have been many difficult times over the past seven years, but I feel that we have come very close to the image I had in mind when I took office. When I received the offer, I thought, “If I do this well, this is what I’ll do,” and it’s turning out exactly as I imagined. In fact, I think it would have been better if it had been developed further.
──Could you tell us more about the image you had when you first took office?
One is to increase the value of basketball. When I was an active player, there were two men’s leagues in Japan: the BJ League and the NBL. I think everyone worked really hard to get excited, but back then the logic of “who is the strongest” and “who is the best” was stronger than it is now. Some people actually liked BJ League teams better than NBL teams. However, I believe that in professional sports, it is more important that customers are satisfied with the performance than whether it is strong or weak. I think it’s just as I imagined, in that that idea was born and the business became successful.
From a business perspective, things are going pretty much as I imagined. The Dragonflies have currently been in the black for six consecutive years, and this has enabled them to invest in the future, such as acquiring good young players and constructing a “Dragonfly Base” with a dedicated practice field and training room. It has become. I feel that we are now starting to enter what is called a “positive spiral.”
–I think NOVA Holdings, which became your parent company in 2018, played a big role in creating the positive spiral.
NOVA Holdings becoming our parent company has led to significant growth in all aspects. It is no exaggeration to say that our rapid growth to this point is thanks to the support of NOVA Holdings. In addition to that, I think it was good that we formed a team in Hiroshima. In Hiroshima, on days when the Carp are playing, everyone cheers for the Carp at Hiroshima Station, and the Lawson near the stadium turns red. Furthermore, Sanfrecce is also there, and we have the advantage of having a great love for the sport among the prefecture’s residents.
In this context, we place great value on the local government, prefectural basketball association, and local media. This is because we believe that the deeper the understanding of these three clubs, the more the prefecture’s citizens will trust them. If the government office, local media, and prefectural association say, “We support the Dragonflies,” then the citizens of the prefecture will feel safe supporting this team, right? First of all, I think it’s because we’ve built up a level of trust that the companies that sponsor us see value in us. Next season will be the 10th season since the club’s founding, and my 8th year as president, but I feel that the things we have been doing little by little are now taking shape and we are where we are today.
──What kind of relationship do you have with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, which symbolizes Hiroshima?
Last year we held “Carp Collaboration Day” for the first time. We had manager Takahiro Arai throw out the first pitch, and the players were in attendance. Our dance team performed the Carp’s famous dance, and we played the Carp’s cheering song over the sound of a shot going in. When the 3-point shot went in and the song “Carp, Carp, Carp, Hiroshima~” started playing, everyone in the audience started singing “Hiroshima Carp~” without saying anything.
The Carp is so popular that 100% of the people in Hiroshima Prefecture are Carp fans, so there are people who can pay money to go to games, buy merchandise, and enjoy the atmosphere. That’s a blessing. Outside of games, we set up a Dragonflies booth in a corner of the virtual space called “Meta Carp,” which is run by Mr. Carp, and we sell collaboration goods, and the fans love us very much. Next season, we will be offering our games to the approximately 60,000 people who are members of the Carp fan club. The Carp has been going through difficult times in the past, including financial difficulties, so they are cheering us up, so I think this is a very Hiroshima-like initiative.
“Hiroshima residents have a tendency to support people who are doing their best in difficult things.”
──What does President Ura think of the characteristics of Hiroshima’s citizens?
75 years ago, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 140,000 people. However, our ancestors rose from that, and although they lost the war, their souls never gave in. I believe that this is why Hiroshima was able to recover. In addition to that, I think the people of Hiroshima have a “generous heart.” Despite the terrible experience caused by the atomic bomb, I believe that the people of Hiroshima Prefecture have looked toward the future instead of holding grudges against the past.
The Dragonflies has a club philosophy called “HIROSHIMA PRIDE,” which was born from the desire to inherit the prefecture’s national character as described above. For example, one way to do this is to show respect to the away players by giving them a standing ovation when they leave the game. Just like my team, I never give up in sales or anything like that. We are expressing the characteristics of Hiroshima and receiving support from the people of Hiroshima Prefecture. I believe that the culture of supporting people who are doing their best in difficult things is definitely part of the prefectural culture.
──I think the club is growing steadily, but I think there were many difficult times along the way.
There were so many things going on. To begin with, when I took over as president, the club had a deficit of 220 million yen, and for this reason, we started at B2 in the first year of the B League. The reason why I accepted the position of president of such a club is because when I found out that the B League was going to be formed, I thought, “If this club were to disappear because of something like that (financial situation), the world of basketball would be ruined forever.” Do you feel like you put everything you had into that bet? Everything was difficult because we started from such a place, but looking back, it wasn’t a big problem because the club was in the process of improving.
──What was the driving force behind President Ura?
One is that I’m from Hiroshima, so I just want to make Hiroshima more exciting. The other reason is that I want to prove to the world the excellence of Japanese basketball players.
In both baseball and soccer, it is common for Japanese players to be active around the world, and I believe this is due to the environment in place for nurturing players. On the other hand, the basketball world has not had a good environment for a long time, so good resources have not developed. As someone who has been on the scene before, I felt that very much. For example, if you become the best in Japan in high school baseball and join the team as the first pick in the draft, you can sign a contract worth 100 million yen, but that was not the case in basketball. In the past, a player I was coaching won number one in Japan in the following category, but unfortunately at the time, I didn’t feel it had much value in the world. A desire to liven up Hiroshima and a desire to prove to the world the excellence of the Japanese basketball world. These two things are my driving force.
2023-09-18 03:01:42
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