Asahi Soft Drink Challengers

Sekisui Challengers
Established1978
Based inAmagasaki, Hyogo
Head coachTakashi Kubo
General managerShigeru Kaji
Owner(s)Katsuhiko Kishigami
LeagueX-League
DivisionWest
Colors   Asahi Blue and White[1]
Mascot(s)Orange Bayarisu boy
Japan X Bowl titles:2 (2000, 2001)
Division titles3 (1998-1999, 2008)
Websitehttp://www.challengers-net.com/

The Sekisui Challengers are an American football team located in Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan. They are a member of the X-League.

Team history

  • 1978 Team founded as a practice team for the Momoyama Gakuin University's football team. Team was nicknamed the "Silver Tigers" due to a majority of the team being fans of the Hanshin Tigers professional baseball team.
  • 1979 Joined the X-League X2 division.
  • 1985 Promoted from X2 to X1.
  • 1989 Team name changed from Silver Tigers to Red Bears.
  • 1993 Sponsorship agreement with Asahi Soft Drinks. Team name changed from Red Bears to Wild Jo. Finished the season 5th in the division. Lost X2-X1 replacement game. Demoted to X2 for the following season.
  • 1996 Team promoted from X2 to X1.
  • 1998 Team name changed to Challengers. Advanced to the Final6 Semifinals.
  • 2000 Won first Tokyo Super Bowl and Rice Bowl Championships.
  • 2001 Won second Tokyo Super Bowl championship. Lost to Kwansei Gakuin 30-27 in the Rice Bowl.
  • 2007 Won West division title. Lost to Kashima in the Final6 Semi-finals 7-24.
  • 2024 Sponsorship with Asahi Soft Drinks ended. Team reaches sponsorship agreement with Sekuisui Chemical Co., LTD.. Team renamed "Sekisui Challengers".[2]

Seasons

X-League Champions (1987–present) Division Champions Final Stage/Semifinals Berth Wild Card /2nd Stage Berth
Season Division Regular Season Post Season Results Awards Head coaches
Finish Wins Losses Ties
1997 West 6th 1 4 0 Hiroshi Yamazaki
1998 West 1st 5 0 0 Lost semi-finals match (at Recruit) 16-21 Satoshi Fujita
1999 West 1st 5 0 0 Lost semi-finals match (Asahi Beer) 15-20 Satoshi Fujita
2000 West 2nd 5 1 0 Won Wild card match (Asahi Beer)
Won Semi-finals match (at Recruit)
Won Tokyo Super Bowl XIV (at Matsushita Electric Works) 20-18
Won 54th Rice Bowl National Championship game (Hosei) 52-13 		Satoshi Fujita
2001 West 2nd 4 3 0 Won Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 24-6
Won Semi-finals match (at Kashima) 21-13
Won Tokyo Super Bowl XV (Matsushita Denko) 14-7
Lost 55th Rice Bowl National Championship game (at Kwansei Gakuin) 27-30 		Satoshi Fujita
2002 West 2nd 4 2 0 Won Wild card match (Kashima) 28-10
Lost semi-finals match (at Obic) 0-30 		Takeshi Yamakawa
2003 West 2nd 5 1 0 Won Wild card match (Obic) 16-9
Lost semi-finals match (at Onward) 17-41 		Takeshi Yamakawa
2004 West 2nd 4 2 0 Lost Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 7-10 Masato Takahashi
2005 West 2nd 5 1 0 Lost Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 19-22 Masato Takahashi
2006 West 3rd 4 2 0 Masato Takahashi
2007 West 2nd 5 2 0 Lost Wild card match (Onward) 0-20 Masato Takahashi
2008 West 1st 7 1 0 Lost semi-finals match (Kashima) 7-24 Yoshito Fujimoto
2009 West 2nd 6 2 0 Won 2nd stage match (Nihon Unisys) 55-13
Lost 2nd stage match (Fujitsu) 21-43 		Yoshito Fujimoto
2010 West 2nd 6 1 0 Won 2nd stage match (Meiji Yasuda) 29-24
Lost 2nd stage match (Kashima) 23-38 		Yoshito Fujimoto
2011 West 2nd 5 2 1 Won 2nd stage match (All Mitsubishi) 24-3
Lost 2nd stage match (Obic) 13-20 		Yoshito Fujimoto
2012 West 2nd 5 2 0 Lost 2nd stage match (at Asahi Beer) 20-26 OT
Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 12-29 		Yabe
2013 West 2nd 5 2 0 Lost 2nd stage match (Asahi Beer) 10-34
Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 17-44 		Yabe
2014 West 3rd 5 3 0 Lost 2nd stage match (Lixil) 7-23
Lost 2nd stage match (at IBM) 10-37 		Tatsuhide Fukuda
2015 West 2nd 6 2 0 Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 9-52
Lost 2nd stage match (IBM) 20-37 		Naoto Matsumoto
2016 West 3rd 3 6 0 Won Wildcard match (All Mitsubishi) 20-6 [3]
Lost quarterfinals match (at Fujitsu) 6-42
Won Super9/Battle9 classification match (AS ONE) 39-7 		Naoto Matsumoto
2017 West 3rd 4 5 0 Won Super9/Battle9 classification match (AS ONE) 27-7 Takashi Kubo
2018 West 3rd 4 5 0 Takashi Kubo
2019 X1 Area West 1st 9 0 0 Lost X1 Area Final (at Asahi Beer) 31-34 Garret Safron (X1 Area MVP & ROY) Takashi Kubo
2020 X1 Area West 1st 3 0 0 Takashi Kubo
2021 X1 Area West 1st 5 1 0 Takashi Masahige
2022 X1 Super Div. B 4th 3 4 0 Lost quarterfinals match (at Panasonic) 28-38 Takashi Masahige
2023 X1 Super Div. A 5th 3 4 0 Takashi Masahige
Total 121 57 1 (1997–2023, includes only regular season)
15 23 0 (1997–2023, includes only playoffs)
136 80 1 (1997–2023, includes both regular season and playoffs)

Head coaches

Coach Years Record
Hiroshi Yamazaki 1997 1-4 (.200)
Satoshi Fujita 1998-2001 26-7 (.813)
Takeshi Yamakawa 2002-2003 15-5 (.750)
Masato Takahashi 2004-2007 18-10 (.630)
Yoshito Fujimoto 2008-2011 27-10-1 (.730)
Yabe 2012-2013 10-8 (.556)
Tatsuhide Fukuda 2014 5-5 (.500)
Naoto Matsumoto 2015-2016 11-11 (.500)
Takashi Kubo 2017-present 21-11 (.656)

Current import players

Jersey # Name Position Years with the team Alma Mater Achievements
#1 Boogie Knight[4] WR 2023-present Louisiana-Monroe
#0 Tre'Vaughn Craig DB 2023-present Central Oklahoma
#8 Garrett S. Safron QB 2019-present Sacramento State X-League Area MVP & ROY (2019)
All X-League Area Team member (2019)

Former Import players

Name Position Years with the team Alma Mater Achievements
Robert Earl Johnson II WR 2018-22 Mississippi State All X-League Area Team member (2019)
Davion Washington DB 2022 Wingate
Robbie Wallace LB 2022 Wingate
Brison Burris DB 2019-21 Miami University All X-League Area Team member (2019)
Michael R. Taylor Jr. LB 2019-21 Florida All X-League Area Team member (2019)
Clint Floyd LB 2017-18 Arizona State
Alex Niznak [5] QB 2017-18 Central Michigan
Brandon Berry LB 2018 Buffalo
Donnie King WR 2015-17 Hawai'i
Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea DL 2017 Hawaii
Darwin Rogers TE 2016 Arizona State
Paul Porras SS 2016 Rice
Albert Griffin DE 2015 Lindenwood
Kaniela Tuipulotu DT 2014 Hawaii
Siasau Matagiese DT 2014 Hawaii

References

  1. ^ "X-League profile, Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers". April 17, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  2. ^ "Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers changes team name to 'Sekisui Challengers'". xleague.jp. January 18, 2024. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Marantz, Ken (November 7, 2016). "Challengers, Finies notch wild-card victories". xleague.com. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  4. ^ Shaffer, Mike (June 16, 2023). "Jefferson grad Knight runs different route in football dream". starbeacon.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  5. ^ Marantz, Ken (May 21, 2017). "Continental Drifter". insidesportjapan.com. Retrieved August 1, 2017.