Let's reconsider the "investing" of college sports and enrich the campus life of university students through these sport-related activities. In Japan, the current "investing" of university sports activities is biased, and this "investment" may not be benefits for the majority of students. Let's "investing university resources" into sports activities that are easy for students to gather, see, and participate in, and create a system on campus where all students can easily involve sports.
The Japan Sports Agency (2024) describes "college sports" as an important activity that not only student-athletes but also many general students can find valuable in improving their health and social skills. Considering this definition, investing university resource in college sports refers to projects that return benefits to all students, including student athletes.
On the other hand, when we hear the words "investing college sports" in Japan, many people probably think of "strengthening the competitiveness of athletic teams." But, let's take a look at how much of this is reflected in the campus life of general students. Sugimoto (2022) states that overall interest of general students in athletic teams remains at around 30%, and the percentage of those who wish to communicate with student-athletes is low. This indicats that their existence is less recognized than expected.
Another study found that 20.9% of general students were aware of the existence of athletic teams, which play a central role in intercollegiate sports (Itakura, 2023). This indicats that the activities of athletic teams are not much recognized among general students and the impact on general student campus-life is limited.
Considering the facts above, what I am suggesting is why not "investing" the creation of opportunities for general students to easily experience sports on campus? For example, official home games played on campus. When I suggest this idea, some readers may say, "Because our athletic team is not very competitive, so it does not work for us," but university students' motivation for watching games is not only limited to "competitiveness." For example, the following factors have been cited:
1. Sense of unity with players you know:
Ikeno (2016) states that by cheering for players they know, there is a sense of unity that allows spectators to feel the victory "as if it were their own." The fact that students cite “friendliness” (Itakura, 2023) as the thing they most expect from student-athletes shows that the attitude of student-athletes toward being in classes and opportunities for active interaction with general students are important. By increasing the number of students who recognize student-athletes, it is thought that more students will attend games even if they are not familiar with the sport.
2. Place for social interaction
Ishii (2022) states that college sports play a role as a place for "connections and interaction with society." This means that they serve as the core of the university community and have the effect of strengthening ties between university stakeholders. According to J.League spectator survey (2019), "I was invited by a friend or family member" and "Because the events at the match venue look like fun'' were in the top 10 reasons for watching the game. This indicats that social interaction is important and it can be seen at college games that many people come to watch games for this purpose.
With the introduction of online classes, students are now attending school less than five days a week and spending less time on campus than before the coronavirus pandemic. It's also that as students are spending less time on campus, students are starting to feel less connected with people on campus. (Japanese Association of University Physical Education and Sports, 2024) From now on, universities should consider strengthening (inputing resources) sports activities that are easy for students to gather, see, and participate in. Isn't that "college sports for all students" is being asked for?
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