Athletic CenterWaseda University

Koichiro OKA, Director, Athletic Center

First and foremost, I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciattion for your longstanding understanding, encouragement, and invaluable support of Waseda University’s athletic activities.

Throughout its long history, Waseda University’s athletic sports have produced many outstanding athletes and greatly contributed to the development of university sports. Even today, the students of our athletic clubs set high goals in their respective sports and accumulate daily training. Their earnest dedication delivers dreams and inspiration not only to Waseda students and alumni, but also to many people.

On the other hand, the value of athletic sports in a university lies not merely in winning competitions or achieving records. Setting goals through sports, collaborating with peers, taking on challenges, and learning from failures—each of these experiences leads to student growth and eventually becomes a great asset for the human resources who will support society. I believe that the crucial mission of university sports is to balance the improvement of athletic performance with personal growth.

At the Athletic Center, we have been promoting various initiatives, such as the Waseda Athlete Program (WAP), to support student-athletes in balancing academics and sports, as well as in their character building. Moving forward, we will further enhance these initiatives and promote the creation of an environment where student-athletes can focus on their sports with peace of mind and connect their experiences to their future lives, focusing on athletic improvement, balancing with academics, physical and mental health, and career development.

Furthermore, as the environment surrounding sports changes significantly, it is also important to actively utilize scientific knowledge, data, and technology to realize more effective and efficient training, conditioning, injury prevention, and health management. By fostering further collaboration between the athletic field and research/education, and by bringing together the diverse knowledge and human resources possessed by Waseda University, I intend to build an environment that maximizes the potential of our student-athletes.

Moreover, Waseda Sports does not belong solely to the athletic clubs. Waseda Sports is supported by the coaches, staff, students, alumni, parents, and university personnel who support the athletes, as well as the many people who constantly cheer for us. While cherishing these connections, I believe that an important role of the Athletic Center is to create new points of contact between the university and society through sports, and to widely return the value of Waseda Sports to society.

In order for Waseda Sports to continue to be trusted by society and remain a source of pride for our students, we must not only protect tradition but also accurately grasp the changes of the times and continue to take on new challenges. In addition to being a “Strong Waseda,” we aim to be a “Character-building Waseda” and a “Socially contributing Waseda,” thereby pioneering new possibilities in athletic sports.

Creating an environment where each individual student can grow through competition and challenge their own dreams. And connecting the inspiration and learning born from those challenges to the entirety of Waseda University, and further to society. Taking this as the mission of our Athletic Center, we will step forward one step at a time, joining forces with all the members of the athletic clubs and university stakeholders.

In closing,I respectfully ask for your continued understanding, generous support,and unwavering encouragement for Waseda Sports and University Athletic Center.
Thank you for your continued partnership.