Vegalta Sendai Thailand 2025: Okubo & YUKI Football Academy

About supporters

In mid-November 2015, five Vegalta staff members, including club communicator Shingo Tomita (participating for the third consecutive year) and club coordinator Liang Yuki (first-time participant), traveled to Thailand. Three volunteers participated for the second year in a row: supporter Soma Senda, who donated to this activity through crowdfunding, Koichi Togashi, who provided individual support, and Yuji Matsushita, who supports children in Southeast Asia through soccer.This year, we have also welcomed a new volunteer, Kazuyo Igarashi, who has been involved in international cooperation, humanitarian and development support in Africa and Southeast Asia for many years.
In addition, regular members from YUKI, including Tsuyoshi Okubo, coach Shuichi Sato who participated for the first time, Thai interpreter Mei, Lunako Kuroda, who has been volunteering as an English interpreter for the third consecutive year, and Akiko Kitamura, the local volunteer coordinator for the fourth consecutive year, joined, forming the Vegalta Sendai x YUKI FOOTBALL dream team.

Goods delivery and soccer lessons

In Mae Sot, it was a lively event with about 40 junior high school and high school age children and about 50 adult teams, including female players, participating.
First, we held a ceremony to present goods to the children. When it came to the children, who were in their mid-teens, they expressed their gratitude with happy but calm adult responses.

Afterwards, a soccer class was held led by YUKI’s coaching staff.
However, this time I want to focus on games! In order to respond to the voices of local children, most of the time was spent playing mini-games between the Mae Sot team and the Vegalta & YUKI joint team.
It was a very moving experience for all of the volunteer participants to be able to play against not only children but also adult female players.

Mae Sot now, in slum communities and near the border

After the soccer class, we visited a slum community along the border. I have been visiting for three years in a row, and I have not noticed any major changes in the current state of the community. As a refugee, I don’t have an ID. They live with challenges such as not having proof of their birth and not knowing their exact date of birth. As a result, they are forced to work for low wages while living in a community near a cleaning plant with a strange odor.

Neglect, child labor, unsatisfactory educational environment, and living conditions such as living on well water have not changed. However, I was able to reconfirm that the people and organizations supporting us to break out of this situation and stand up on our own and become supporters are still going through trial and error. The community also has a soccer field, and there are smiling faces of children there. There are people who continue to use the Vegalta uniforms donated last year in their daily lives and have high hopes for them.
That’s why I couldn’t help but feel that the club has a mission to keep doing until we see even the slightest sign of hope.

After visiting the community, they toured the border area between Thailand and Myanmar. Despite the ongoing civil war, the reality remains that refugees continue to flood into Thailand from Myanmar across the river. Additionally, this border area was also home to an architectural structure that appeared to be a base for a special type of fraud that was also in the news in Japan. The surrounding area has a tranquil natural atmosphere with the murmuring of a river, and I couldn’t help but feel the depth of the darkness in its appearance, which gave the impression of an otherworldly space.

Conclusion

Our club’s basic policy for the SDGs states, “We will be your hub, work in partnership to resolve local issues, and do our best to create a future together with the community.”
Although Miyagi and Sendai are the central locations, the possibilities extend beyond our hometowns to Asia and the world.
Regardless of the region, we will highlight issues, communicate them, and proactively work to solve them. We must not forget that this is the raison d’être of J-Club, which is utilized in the local community.
After completing our fourth year of activities, we are reminded of what we can do as a club and our mission to continue supporting the club. This is not something that the club can do alone; it is a project that is made possible by the donations of supporters, the partnership of sponsors, and the support of volunteers.
Once again, we would like to thank Kit, JTB, Miyagi Corporation, YUKI FOOTBALL ACADEMY coach Shuichi Sato and Runako Kuroda (Representative of Unleash LLC, Vegalta Sendai supporter), YUKI and Bangkok, who sympathized with this initiative and supported us as partners. Mei, the FC interpreter, Koichi Togashi, who supported us through individual sponsorship, Souma Senda, who donated through crowdfunding, Yuji Matsushita, representative director of Global Bridge Plus, who volunteered, and Kazuyo Igarashi, Akiko Kitamura, who connects and coordinates the group every year, Miss Laura and everyone from Play Onside who work hard as local contacts, and club alumnus Tsuyoshi Okubo, who always fully cooperates with all activities.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the proud Vegalta Sendai supporters who have shown me so much goodwill every year, and I would like to conclude this event with these words.
Cop n Clap! (Thank you in Thai)

Joint soccer class with Bangkok FC held in the extra edition
Sendai City’s inbound promotion activities