Introducing the New 2024 Academy School Staff: Kashima Area Coaches

Makoto Sugimoto, Junior Youth Coach / Ryo Nishihata, School Coach / Hokki Takahashi, School Coach

What football journeys have the coaches who share the joy of football with children at the Antlers Academy every day walked, and what thoughts do they hold in their hearts as they face football? In this fourth installment, we introduce three individuals who joined the coaching staff in the Kashima Area in 2024.

Giving back what I experienced as a player

Kashima Junior Youth, which won the 35th Emperor's Cup All Japan U-15 Football Championship, welcomed a "powerful helper" (Academy Manager Shuto Suzuki).

"Above all, I believe the beauty of football lies in players taking initiative and acting spontaneously. I want to help them grow while encouraging them to develop those qualities."

So says Makoto Sugimoto, who has been coaching Kashima Junior Youth since 2024.

During his playing days, he was a highly skilled midfielder who wore the number 10 for Tochigi SC. He played for Tochigi SC in J2 and J3, and later gained experience in the Kanto Football League with VONDS Ichihara in Chiba Prefecture. "I wasn't able to play for a top J.League club like Antlers, so..." he says modestly, but adds, "When I received an offer from Antlers, I was worried about whether I was worthy of it." Amidst those feelings, Academy Manager Suzuki encouraged him, saying, "I want you to pass on that playing experience to the players," which led him to decide to wear the club's traditional emblem on his chest.

Now, surrounded by former teammates such as Academy Director Hiroshi Nakano, Tsukuba Junior Youth Manager Masahiro Nasukawa, and Tsukuba Junior Youth Coach Tomoyuki Suzuki, along with Academy Manager Suzuki, he opens up about his feelings, saying, "There are reassuring aspects to it."

When he first came to Kashima, he saw the activities of Kashima Junior Youth, which had been crowned "Japan's Best," and was amazed, asking, "Are they really junior high school students?"

"Even before winning the Emperor's Cup, the team had momentum, the players were united, and there was a strong aura of 'winning.' The players had a wealth of football knowledge and ideas about play, and they could express them effectively and accurately in their game. It was shocking. When I actually saw their training, the preparation before training, the atmosphere once it started... so many players were working spontaneously and striving for high standards. I could feel 'the Antlers style.'"

In such a top-tier junior high school team, his role is clear.

"Personally, I wasn't particularly strong in physical abilities such as speed, power, or height, so I couldn't compete at the professional level in those areas. However, I have pride in having continued as a professional by doing what I could do, such as stopping and kicking accurately and placing the ball where it needed to be. I hope to give back what I experienced as a player to the Kashima Junior Youth players and increase their weapons and options in play."

Embodying the reason he was called to Antlers, a club he had no prior connection to, Coach Sugimoto sets out on a new battle alongside Kashima Junior Youth, aiming to "become a coach who can create an environment filled with the beauty of football."

Coach Sugimoto, who joined Kashima Junior Youth

I want to work with passion that no one can match

Along with Coach Sugimoto, Coach Hokki Takahashi is another new addition.

Until 2023, he served as an Academy GK coach for Tochigi City FC, and after being approached by Jin Ashida, a scout and alumnus of his alma mater, Jobu University, he sought a new environment, saying, "I want to challenge myself at a J.League top club's academy."

"Antlers is a club that leads Japan's football world. I was excited and anxious about how much my abilities would be useful there and how much I could grow. When I actually came here, there are so many GK coaches, and every day is full of inspiration. There is a wonderful environment where I can go and watch the top team's training right away, and I am very grateful that the other coaches talk to me casually. The words of those who have played at the top level carry weight."

Born and raised in Hachioji City, Tokyo, Takahashi was so devoted to being a GK from childhood that he said, "I started playing football because I wanted to play the GK position." He admired former Japan national team player Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and said, "I was originally someone who wanted to stand out, so I thought it was cool that only one person wore a different colored uniform and could use their hands," and became drawn to that special position.

And it was through meeting two GK coaches at Jobu University that he began walking the path of a coach.

"A senior at university became a GK coach and looked after me well from my first year. Influenced by that person, I learned a lot from Sadao Shirai, who currently serves as a GK coach for the U-16 Japan Women's National Team, at the coaching seminars I attended during university. Those two are very important figures in my journey toward becoming a coach. What they have in common is that they maintain a good distance from players and staff, have passion for coaching, and possess the ambition to grow further. I also wanted to become a coach like that."

Even after arriving at Antlers Academy and taking on its traditional emblem, Coach Takahashi's ambition never runs out.

"The children who come here truly love football and have the motivation to get better. I want to respect the feelings of the children and work with passion that no one can match as I strive for excellence myself. I hope to become a coach who can captivate more people by being conscious of character, the quality of coaching, and appropriate behavior and actions. For that, I want to work hard together with the players."

The joy of football and an insatiable ambition to grow. Embodying these, Coach Takahashi also looks toward his own growth together with the children of the Kashima Area.

Coach Takahashi, who took his first step at Antlers Academy in the Kashima Area School

It is a blessing to have an environment like a clubhouse

Like Coach Takahashi, Coach Ryo Nishihata, who also began coaching at the Kashima Area School in 2024, places great importance on the football "environment" in his coaching.

"I try not to explain too much with words, but rather to create training where they naturally improve by working through the menu. Off the pitch, it is necessary to study the details one by one, but on the pitch, I try to keep it as simple as possible."

He became an Antlers Academy coach in 2021 and has been active in the Norte Area for three years. With a fresh start and a spirit of challenge, he transferred to the Kashima Area and is sharing the joy of football with children in this new environment.

"The Antlers clubhouse is my base of work, and I always feel surrounded by football. We talk about football at the Norte Area office too, but this clubhouse has a pitch where the top team players practice, and there is an environment where I can see it up close. I feel that is an incredibly great blessing."

The green grass pitch, the heartbeat of top-level players. It is Coach Nishihata who feels the happiness of being in such an environment more than anyone else.

"The children in the Kashima Area may think this environment is normal, but we want to convey that this blessed environment is by no means something to be taken for granted. I think the same goes for local youth teams, but in the Norte Area, there were many activities on dirt pitches. This Kashima Area is truly a special area where Antlers is part of daily life."

Looking back, in the Norte Area, dozens of kilometers north of the Kashima Area, he also devoted himself to spreading the club's reach, thinking, "I hope I can have a positive influence on Antlers too." After becoming the Chief Coach of the Norte Area, he aimed for the further development of the Norte Area by also keeping an eye on the activities in the Kashima Area and Tsukuba Area. Those three years of experience are surely connected to the "present."

"Because the environment for facing football has changed, and the members I work with have changed, I am now working hard on what is in front of me with a completely new mindset. While valuing the experience cultivated in the Norte Area, I want to work hard so that I am not outdone by other staff in either quality or quantity."

Standing at the second starting line at Antlers, he runs toward the goal once again.

In addition to the existing coaching staff, three new staff members have newly arrived in the Kashima Area. They will convey their passion to the players toward the further development of the area.

Coach Nishihata, who gained experience in the Norte Area and came to the Kashima Area