The high school women’s hockey competition: “High School Women’s Summer Challenge Cup 2020” was held on August 12 at Kawasaki Heavy Industries Hockey Stadium in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture. At the opening ceremony, Kenji Asano, the local mayor of Kakamigahara, Yokoyama Hide, Vice President, Asian Hockey Federation, and Hiroyuki Yokoyama, Chairman of Kakamigahara City Association, gave a warm message to the participating players and encouraged them.
The players who were anxiously awaiting this tournament played hard for four days and gave hope and courage to the Japanese hockey players. The final result is Niu High School in Fukui Prefecture as the winner. The runner-up was the local Gifu Kakamino High School.
The tournament organizers strictly adhered to the guidelines of the International Hockey Federation, the Asian Hockey Federation, and the Japan Hockey Association. In addition to temperature measurement and disinfection, other measures to safeguard everyone against coronavirus were also taken, such as spectator restrictions. These measures, due to their effectiveness, will now be the standard for future tournaments in Japan.
When preparing to hold the tournament, the high school teachers played a central role, and the local Kakamigahara City, Kakamigahara Hockey Association, and Gifu Prefecture Hockey Association supported the event, and it was a highly memorable event for high school students.
“In the future, we are planning to hold adult competitions, university championships, all-Japan championships, Japanese leagues, etc., and in December, a high school national competition will be held again in Kakamigahara City.
In addition to the many international competitions starting next year, the Japanese sports world and the Japanese hockey world will continue to make the best preparations so that everyone in the world can participate in the postponed Tokyo Olympics with peace of mind.”, said Yokoyama Hide, Vice President Asian Hockey Federation.
“This is a great step towards normalcy, and I applaud the effort put into the tournament and the passion which the young athletes have displayed on the field.”, said Kenji Asano, the local mayor of Kakamigahara.
