Asahi Soft Drink Challengers Explained

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
Satoshi Fujita	1998-2001	26-7
Takeshi Yamakawa	2002-2003	15-5
Masato Takahashi	2004-2007	18-10
Yoshito Fujimoto	2008-2011	27-10-1
Yabe	2012-2013	10-8
Tatsuhide Fukuda	2014	5-5
Naoto Matsumoto	2015-2016	11-11
Takashi Kubo	2017-present	21-11

Current import players

Jersey #	Name	Position	Years with the team	Alma Mater	Achievements
1	Boogie Knight[4]		2023-present
0	Tre'Vaughn Craig		2023-present
8	Garrett S. Safron		2019-present		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		2018-22		All X-League Area Team member (2019)
Davion Washington		2022
Robbie Wallace		2022
Brison Burris		2019-21		All X-League Area Team member (2019)
Michael R. Taylor Jr.		2019-21		All X-League Area Team member (2019)
Clint Floyd		2017-18	Arizona State
Alex Niznak [5]		2017-18	Central Michigan
Brandon Berry		2018
Donnie King		2015-17	Hawai'i
Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea		2017
Darwin Rogers		2016	Arizona State
Paul Porras		2016	Rice
Albert Griffin		2015
Kaniela Tuipulotu		2014	Hawaii
Siasau Matagiese		2014	Hawaii

External links

• (Japanese)

Notes and References

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