On the 15th, Urawa Reds Heartful Meeting 2024 was held at Saitama Stadium.

Heart-full Club operates under the theme of nurturing "heart" through soccer, celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. At this year's meeting, which marks the 21st anniversary, the club reported on its activities in fiscal year 2011 and outlined its activities for fiscal year 2012 to 35 companies and organizations, including partners and local governments that regularly support Heart-full Club activities.

First, Urawa Reds Reds president Makoto Taguchi expressed his gratitude to those who have supported the team.
In his speech, Representative Taguchi said, "We would like to thank you for your cooperation, support, and understanding of Heart-full Club 's activities. We hope you will enjoy the first part of the trial session and return to your childhood."

This Heartful Meeting was divided into three parts, the first of which was a soccer school experience at Saitama Stadium's second ground. Coach Masato Ajisaka, also known as "Coach Aji," instructed the participants, who were asked to return to their "childhood hearts," and played with smiles and all their might on the green pitch. Even the participants who were not playing cheered loudly from the surroundings, and the experience had Heart-full Club-like atmosphere where participants could get a glimpse of hard work in the midst of fun.







The second part of the event moved to the view restaurant on the south side of the stadium, where Home Town Headquarters Director Maruyama gave a report on 2023 and explained the activities for 2024.

In 2023, we will return to the same numbers as before the coronavirus for all activities, including visits to 120 elementary schools and 91 Reds Kids (nursery schools and kindergartens).In terms of school operations, we will hold a summer school for sixth graders in Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture, which is Saitama's sister city, for the first time since 2019.
In addition, as part of their ongoing visits to disaster-stricken areas for the 12 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, they reported that last year for the first time they set up a booth as their hometown at the Yamada Town festival, where they were able to interact with many people other than the children they met through the program, including past participants and people who had returned home from their hometowns.

Heart-full Soccer in Asia visited Nepal, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok. At the local elementary school, they were reminded of the difficulty of teaching and conveying to various children, which became a future challenge, and they plan to give back to their hometown of Saitama and convey this experience. In Bangkok, they held a joint Heart-full Soccer, triggered by their partnership with Muangthong United, a member of the Thai first division. They conveyed to the participants the philosophy of Urawa Reds Red Diamonds and the values that Heart-full Club holds dear: "a heart of compassion, a heart of hard work, and a heart of enjoyment," and reported to the participants that they had been able to carry out their activities as "grassroots international exchange."

Through these activities, Heart-full Club was able to interact with 42,893 people on 503 occasions in 2023.

Heart-full Club 's guidelines and philosophy will remain unchanged for 2024, and the club will operate based on the keywords "compassion," "enjoyment," "hard work" plus "thinking."

Also, starting this year, Heart-full Club will be welcoming its first female coach, Shiori Murayasu. With many female children participating in Heartful Club, the club aims to add new value to its activities with the addition of Heart-full Club Murayasu.

He explained that in 2024, their daily activities will aim to develop the "heart" of more children through soccer, to visit disaster-stricken areas to provide "mental care" and work together with them towards recovery, to raise awareness of Urawa Reds through grassroots activities in Asia, and to enable the coaches to give back to their hometown of Saitama through their activities in Asia.



Captain Hiroshi Ochiai gave a speech in the second half of the second session. Captain Ochiai began by saying, "I say the same thing every year, but the first thing I want to say to you is my gratitude." Based on what he tells the children in his elementary school class support, he spoke about the philosophy of Heart-full Club and how to interact with children, and the participants listened intently.



The third part of the Urawa Reds Heartful Meeting 2024 ended with a visit to the Saitama Stadium to watch the Meiji Yasuda J1 League 14th round Kyoto Sanga F.C. game played that day, while enjoying ramen noodles provided by Heart-full Club Gohei Morita's coach, Morita-ken.



[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]