A committee was formed in March 2010 to establish a professional basketball team in Kanagawa with an eye on entry into bj-League. After about 18 months of discussions and negotiations with the related organizations, Yokohama B-Corsairs, the first professional basketball team in Kanagawa Prefecture, was founded, and it has been decided that the team will participate in bj-League beginning with the 2011-2012 season. Basketball, combined with dance and freestyle performance, will turn the arena into a space of attractive live entertainment. The season-opening games are scheduled to be held on October 8 (Sat) and 9 (Sun), 2011 at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, one of Yokohama B-Corsairs’ home court arenas, where the team will play against Hamamatsu/Higashimikawa Phoenix, the champion team of the last season. Let’s go and root for Kanagawa’s new professional basketball team!

Players

A press conference was held on July 3 to introduce the new players. The photo shows Representative Kazuo Hirota, top draft pick Kenji Yamada, second draft pick Faye Pape Mour, Takeshi Hotta, Masayuki Kabaya, and General Manager Naoki Ogawa, from left to right.
Kenji Yamada and Takeshi Hotta are native to Yokohama, and Masayuki Kabaya is from Yokosuka. Faye Pape Mour graduated from Kanto Gakuin University this spring. All of them have some connection with Yokohama or Kanagawa. With these four players on board in addition to the other members such as head coaches and foreign players, the team is about to make a new first step in the history of basketball in Yokohama, Kanagawa.

Interview with Yokohama B-Corsairs Representative Kazuo Hirota

What made you interested in getting involved in the management of basketball teams?

In my sophomore year when I was a member of a college basketball team, the manager said to me, “Basketball could also be fun in aspects other than playing.” That made me interested in management.
I was manager in my third year in college and, in my fourth year, served as an assistant coach as well as chairman of the Kanagawa University Student Basketball Federation and director of the Kanagawa Basketball Association. I learned the basics of management during this period of time.

What made you think of establishing a professional basketball team in Yokohama?

Kanagawa Prefecture has the largest number of basketball players in Japan. After all, I wanted to create a professional team that I could emphasize with in the place where I had been playing basketball.

What kind of team do you want Yokohama B-Corsairs to be?

I want Yokohama B-Corsairs to be a strong, cool team that demonstrates a high level of professionalism. My dream is to build a team of professionals who are acclaimed to play by world-class standards. I hope that as many people as possible watch Yokohama B-Corsairs’ games and that watching the games makes them want to play basketball and have dreams in the sport.

Can you give a message for Yokohama citizens?

The season starts in October. Basketball is a sport that offers live entertainment that allows spectators to watch players up close, so I want everyone to come and see the games. And I want everyone to be there and see the new team Yokohama B-Corsairs get off to an exciting start and make dreams come true.

About the Team Name and Logo of Yokohama B-Corsairs

We combined the first letters of some of the team names offered by the public to create a strong-sounding, cool name that makes sense and came up with “B-Corsairs.” The word corsair refers to a pirate or a pirate ship.
The logo features a pirate hat that symbolizes the bow of a ship, as well as the Japanese letters representing “Hama” and a rose, the flower of Yokohama City, to reflect our identity.

For information on Yokohama B-Corsairs, see:

Official Homepage: http://b-corsairs.com/
Official blog: http://kanagawa2010.blog6.fc2.com/
Official twitter: http://twitter.com/b_corsairs

 

As a professional basketball team, Yokohama B-Corsairs is ready to fascinate spectators with its high level of play. But the appeal of this team does not end there. B-Corsairs has a performance team that makes the games more exciting together with the players and is engaged in a variety of activities that only a professional team can do, including various community services.

Community Service “Yokohama B-Corsairs Basketball Clinic”

The players and coaching staff host basketball clinic for elementary school and junior high school students. Through these clinic sessions, they teach kids the fun of basketball and the importance of learning the basics as part of their effort to promote basketball in the local community.

　

Performance Team

The performance team makes B-Corsairs’ home games more exciting. The team has dancers and cheerleading staff and is expected to offer unique forms of sports entertainment befitting Yokohama such as collaboration of basketball and music. A cheerleading school will also be held at the Yokohama International Pool, one of B-Corsairs’ home court arenas.

Information on Boosters and Volunteers

Boosters are members of the so-called fan club. In order to create an attractive team befitting Yokohama, B-Corsairs holds booster meetings for an exchange of ideas and opinions with boosters.

The team is now recruiting boosters for the 2011-2012 season (http://b-corsairs.com/booster/). Volunteers are also wanted to help organize home games and make the games exciting (http://b-corsairs.com/staff /volunteer.html). Be a booster to watch basketball games, take part in clinic sessions or the cheerleading school, or work as a volunteer – you can start anywhere you like to help the new team get going.

Home Court Arenas

Yokohama International Pool 7-3-1, Kitayamada, Tsuzuki-Ku, Yokohama (5-minute walk from Kitayamada Subway Station)

Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium 2-7, Furo-Cho, Naka-Ku, Yokohama (5-minute walk from either JR Kannai Station or Isezaki-Chojamachi Subway Station)

Home games are planned to be held in gymnasiums in other locations in Kanagawa Prefecture including Hiratsuka, Zama, and Yokosuka.

Yokohama International Pool

Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium

Present for You

Tickets for Yokohama B-Corsairs’ season-opening game will be presented to five pairs of readers. To request a ticket, see the “Reader Questionnaire” and state that you want a ticket for Yokohama B-Corsairs’ season-opening game in the questionnaire when submitting it (your request must arrive by August 31, 2011).

Reader Questionnaire

(1) Please let me hear the opinion (good article etc. that did not seem to be the articles) and the reasons to the issue this month.

(2) The theme that it wants you to be going to take it up in the future (item, event, and person, etc.)?

(3) Where did you obtain it? Moreover, do you think it is convenient in case of being where?

(4) Additionally, please send comments or opinions.

Address

1F, NISSEI Yokohama Onoe-Cho building,
6-81, Onoe-Cho, Naka-Ku, Yokohama #231-0015
Yokohama City Sports Information Center

sports_yokohama@yspc.or.jp

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