Get to know our grantees in japan!
NPO J Camp
NPO J Camp has received its first Play Academy grant to support its wheelchair basketball programming. J Camp is engaged in a variety of projects with the aim of creating a social environment where people with or without disabilities can make their own choices and decisions. Its new project ‘Push for Future’ will provide programs for girls and young women with disabilities to push their boundaries and into their future.
General Incorporated Association Junk Baseball Club
Junk Baseball Club joins the Play Academy family with the goal to enrich lives through baseball. The Tokyo-based club is dedicated to providing activities and an environment that is conducive to the positive athletic and social development of children to adults. It is developing an on-going project that provides opportunities to play baseball 5 – a street version of baseball and softball that can be played anywhere – for both girls and boys.
Incorporated Educational Institution Momoyama Gakuin/ University of Education
As extracurricular sport club activities are due to be transitioned to the local community, Play Academy supports Momokyo’s “Girls Power Program: Leadership Development,” which partners with regional schools to provide opportunities to learn about communication, health, rights, and community through sport, and will work to develop their leadership and train them to become leaders.
NPO Monkey Magic
NPO Monkey Magic aims to expand the potential of people including those with a vision impairment by promoting and organizing climbing activities. With Play Academy’s grant, Monkey Magic established the “Challenged Girls Climbing School” which specifically empowers women and girls. The main focus is on those with disabilities, by providing them with the opportunity to improve their self-efficacy and social skills through climbing, while also creating an accessible climbing system.
Incorporated Educational Institution Nittsu Gakuen/ Ryutsu Keizai University
Incorporated Educational Institution Nittsu Gakuen operates Ryutsu Keizai University (RKU) and its affiliated RKU Kashiwa High School. It returns as a grantee to continue building the RKU HERS rugby program that started through funding from Play Academy. HERS strives to develop women’s rugby and empower women toward gender equality by creating opportunities through the sport and fostering an environment where they develop as leaders.
SPOCOM, Inc.
SPOCOM’s vision is to unleash people’s potential through sport, with focuses on development programs, raising awareness and education in minor sports. Given the lack of opportunities for girls to play sport, especially team sports, Play Academy’s funding supports the Youth Empowerment Program through Lacrosse – which provides an opportunity for girls to develop their personal and social skills through lacrosse by delivering the program to different groups including not only children, but also their coaches and parents.
General Incorporated Association Tokyo Sports Cross Lab
Tokyo Sports Cross Lab is joining Play Academy for the first time and has a vision of a society where everyone can be healthy and happy by connecting the world through sports. With support from Play Academy, Tokyo Sports Cross Lab will launch the Girls Life Skills x SRHR project that aims to create an environment for teenage girls to learn and confront issues through sports, especially during a time when their bodies and minds undergo changes between ages 12-16 years old.
NPO Yamato Sylphid Sport Club
Through their semi-professional women’s soccer club, NPO Yamato Sylphid Sport Club aims to create a more sustainable and inclusive society. With the grant from Play Academy with Naomi Osaka, Yamato Sylphid established the “Girls Empowerment Project,” which trains the players and staff to develop and deliver soccer-based sessions and workshops focused on girls goal-setting and empowerment.