People :
Rugby Football Team Captain
Mr. Seigo Morooka

Mr. Seigo Morooka Born in Chiba in 1982. Graduated from Kokugakuin Kugayama High School. Senior in the School of Law. Belongs to Prof. Yoichi Shimada’s seminar. Practices surfing as a hobby. Scheduled to work at Dentsu Corporation after graduation.

His sharp features, deep, calm voice, and sturdiness give the very impression of a “rugger man”. He joined the team in the year when Mr. Kiyomiya took charge as manager of the Waseda rugby football team. Since then Mr. Morooka has experienced many victories. The team, which consists of more than 130 members, is a place where everybody works hard to polish their skills. Some members spent an extra year studying for the entrance exam in order to play rugby at Waseda. Some join the team by high school recommendation system. But all of them come together to support each other and spur each other on.

For Morooka, who only became a regular member in his junior year, being appointed captain was unexpected. “Unlike the last captain Otao, who walked the path of stardom, I’m not a charismatic player. Thus, I have made a special effort to gain the trust of other members by working hard in practice drills and setting a good example.”

The slogan, “The Waseda Rugby Football Team is a place of human development,” is due to Tetsunosuke Onishi (manager from 1950 to 1954). “It says in his book that whether you can take a part in the game or not, playing rugby is not easy, and growing up as a man is the essential point. I feel that I have matured and that even my way of thinking has changed through playing rugby.”

As his graduation is approaching, the number of games left for Morooka is limited. Last year, whenever he played, he felt sad because the end of his time at Waseda was approaching. In the matches against Keio and Meiji universities, Morooka left the locker room moved by the messages from the manager and his teammates. “The members who are eager to play but are not granted the chance, pass all their enthusiasm to the players,” says Morooka, choking a bit on his words. “Rugby is a fight over the ball in which how strong you can be for your teammates is tested. As long as we play on the field as representatives, we have the responsibility to play a game that will satisfy the other team members as well.” His words, coming as they do from personal experience, have something very persuasive about them.

There is one thing that Morooka wants to achieve before he finishes playing at Waseda. Last January, Waseda lost to its great rival team, Kanto Gakuin University, in the finals of the University Championships at the National Stadium. The happy faces of their rivals are still vivid in Morooka’s memory. ”It was the lack of power on our side that prevented us from winning the game last year. If we can win the championship this year, it will prove that my past four years absorbed in the sport have been meaningful.” We only hope now that Morooka and his team will take revenge, and make the end of his career as a rugger man a memorable one with a glorious victory.

* Mr. Morooka had this interview on 17 December 2004.