Nikkei Hockey Mandate & History

PURPOSE

VISION STATEMENT OF THE NIKKEI MIDGET HOCKEY PROGRAMME

TO INITIATE AND FOSTER AN APPRECIATION OF THE JAPANESE CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE IN OUR NIKKEI YOUTH.

MISSION STATEMENT

TO PROVIDE TO AN ELITE LEVEL OF NIKKEI CANADIAN HOCKEY PLAYERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL TO JAPAN TO PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY WHILE AT THE SAME TIME GAINING EXPOSURE AND EDUCATION IN JAPANESE CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE.

TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE BUILDING AND STRENGTHENING OF THE JAPANESE-CANADIAN COMMUNITY

There are 3 major objectives to this program:

1. High level of hockey

To identify 20 midget age hockey players who are enthusiastic about traveling to Japan to test their talents against some of Japan’s top high school hockey teams.

2. Culture and education

To organize a cultural-educational component to the trip that introduces the players to the “Japanese” side of their identities.   Players will experience Japanese culture first hand.  

3. Strengthen community development

Through hockey and the trip, spark friendships that will last the players through into adulthood, and thereby establish a peer group from which Japanese Canadian community leadership and development can be fostered.

BRIEF HISTORY

The Nikkei Ice Hockey Program was first considered in 1999. As Nikkei Canadian parents we constantly ran into others at rinks around the Lower Mainland and realized that there were a significant number of players who were of Japanese descent. The dream of all minor hockey players in Canada is to one day play professional hockey hopefully in the NHL.

Paul Kariya, more recently Devon Setoguchi have been the only Nikkei Canadians to successfully play in the NHL but most have been considered too small to play professional hockey at the top level. It is noteworthy that Raymond Sawada who was with the 2002 team was a high draft pick of the Dallas Stars and it is very likely that he will soon be signing a professional contract with the Stary.

Many of these minor hockey graduates would go on to Junior hockey or university but to most it would mark the end of their organized hockey careers. To celebrate and reward these boys for many years of dedication to the game, parents wanted to provide something that would be a positive climax to their hard work. Most of the boys, although of Japanese descent, spoke no Japanese and knew little of the land of their heritage, the idea of taking a select group of players to Japan to have the opportunity to experience international ice hockey competition and also to visit, learn about and experience Japan seemed like the perfect situation.

The program was realized when the Japan Ice Hockey Federation invited our team to a summer tournament that was held in Kushiro in August, 2000. It was an experience that has made a permanent impact on the boys involved. This dream trip became a reality through the dedicated efforts of parents and players and the generosity of individual donations and financial support from such diverse organizations as Toyota Canada, Canadian Autoparts Toyota, Alcan, The National Association for Japanese Canadians (NAJC), and Japan Airlines to name just a few. A major fund raising dinner was held at the Steveston Buddhist Temple where the Japanese Canadian community came together and the dinner and silent auction raised significant funds. This sense of community support was an indication that the program was succeeding even before the first team went to Japan.

In 2002, 2004 and 2006, the program has been successful in sending teams every second year to competitions in various venues in Japan where the boys were able to experience a high level of international competition, make new friends and learn about the country of their heritage. It is the intention of the program to continue sending teams every two years to allow graduating minor hockey players the chance to broaden their experiences and horizons through their game.

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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

As alluded to above, the program was designed to provide a memorable and educational opportunity through the medium of an international ice hockey experience to high school aged boys of Japanese descent to enjoy high level competition, make new friends and to experience the history, culture and lifestyle of Japan.

For most boys it will be their first visit to Japan and their initial opportunity to experience first hand the country of their ancestry. Today’s young Nikkei players have very little knowledge of the Japanese side of their heritage and a major objective is to give them more knowledge of Japan to hopefully create a higher level of interest in Japan and to develop leaders for the continuation of Japanese culture in Canada. To this end we feel the program has been a huge success. A number of players from past teams have continued with Japanese studies in university here and also in Japan. Other ex-players are now living and working in Japan.

We are extremely pleased to see the results of these positive experiences and our goal is to continue to send a team every two years. We are fortunate in the alliances that we have been able to create with Japan and Japanese organizations to help continue this program.

PREVIOUS TRIPS

The Nikkei Hockey program was established and in the summer of 2000 the first Nikkei team made up of midget aged players from the BC Lower Mainland competed successfully in a JIHF tournament in Kushiro, Japan.  In 2002 the team expanded to include a greater number of players from across BC and the trip took on a cultural component.  The team participated in a four-nation tournament that included Japan, Korea and Russia in Tomakomai, Japan.  After the tournament the team spent several days in and around Tokyo taking in the culture and visiting historic sites.

By 2004 the word of the program had spread across Canada.  A team consisting of players from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario made the trip to Tomakomai where they participated in the All Japan Midget Training Camp and Development Tournament and played against Japan’s top U-18 players.

In 2006 the Nikkei program received news from the JIHF that they had changed the dates of their annual U-18 development camp and tournament to late August.  This was not good news as it impacted Nikkei players interested in attending WHL and Junior A tryouts camps.  Organizers acted quickly and arranged games against the top high school teams in Kushiro.  This worked out well since most of the players on the Japanese teams also participate in the development tournament.  It also provided a different approach to the cultural experience, as the Nikkei players were able to tour a Japanese high school and participate in a joint field trip.

This year the Nikkei Midget hockey program will focus on hockey in and around the Kushiro, Hokkaido area.  We are also looking for a secondary location in the Hachinohe area, located in Northern Honshu.

As can be imagined, these trips require a significant amount of funding.  For previous trips teams were able to get corporate sponsorship but in 2006 the team relied heavily on fund raising and donations.  We can expect the same for team 2008.  Funds will be raised by way of a dinner and silent auction, sale of raffle tickets, sale of advertising space a team program, and from generation donations from various businesses and individuals.  The expected cost per player will be around $2500.

The head coach of this year’s team is Mike Ikeda, a UBC graduate who played in the Japan Ice Hockey League with Nippon Paper Cranes and the Furukawa Electric Ice Bucks.  Mike currently operates a sporting good store in Vancouver (G-Max Sports) and is an assistant coach with the UBC Thunderbirds hockey team.  Helping Mike from the Japan side is Hitomi Nakajima, a native of Kushiro who once played with the Furukawa Electric Ice Bucks and is now operating hockey camps through out Japan.

The team will be managed by Richard Taki and David Kumamoto, both with considerable hockey experience and veterans of the 2004 and 2006 trip.