RICHMOND, Ky. – 6,670 miles from the heart of Colonel Nation and Roy Kidd Stadium sits Amagasaki, Japan, an industrial city in the southern part of the island nation that is home to approximately 455,555 people.
On paper, Richmond and Amagasaki are as similar as bourbon and sake (rice wine), but one thing and two men have created a connection spanning the vast distance.
The thing, football, and the men, head EKU football coach
Walt Wells and coach Ryo Yoshimura of the Sekisui Challengers.
Yoshimura is the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach of the Challengers who has made the 6,000-plus-mile journey to observe the Colonels' practice for the past two seasons as a guest of coach Wells.
For those not up to date on American football abroad, the Challengers play in the first tier of the X-League, Japan's sole professional football league.
"Football has always been a passion of mine, I started playing when I was eight years old in Japan," said Yoshimura when asked how he got started in the sport. "American football was and still is not super popular back home, but my dad fell in love with the sport after visiting San Francisco and seeing a 49ers game and wanted me to play."
The unlikely duo first met in 2011 just down the Cumberland Parkway at Western Kentucky, where Wells was serving as the Hilltoppers' offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, and Yoshimura was on staff as a graduate assistant while pursuing his master's degree.
Yoshimura found his way to the Bluegrass State after playing college football in Japan for Kwansei Gakuin University where he met coach Willie Taggart, the then running back coach at Stanford when he visited to speak to various college teams.
Shortly thereafter Taggart became the head coach at WKU and Yoshimura used the brief connection to become a GA on staff.
After the 2012 season, Wells left with Taggart for South Florida and Yoshimura returned home to begin his coaching career in Japan, with the two staying in touch electronically.
The pair reunited last season when Yoshimura got the approval from his team to travel to Richmond as a guest of Wells to observe a week of the Colonels' Spring practice working with offensive line coach Eric Losey.
"I always learn a great deal when I get to come over here," said Yoshimura on his desire to come over and learn from the Colonels' coaching staff. "I cannot thank coach Wells and Losey enough, they teach me a lot regarding new blocking and offensive schemes, that I get to implement when I return home."
X's and O's are not the only thing that Yoshimura has taken away from his visits, but also a new mindset to the sport he wishes to impart to his players in Japan.
"In America, the players here play with an outward passion for the game and each other that is expressed always," said Yoshimura. "That is one of the biggest things I take back with me and try to get across to my players. Japanese culture is always very reserved so expressing passion does not come naturally. Here coach Wells has created a culture of family and passion for the game and one another which is special."
The lessons have gone both ways though inside the Moberly Building where the EKU coaching staff works, "Ryo is a great person to have around and it's been a pleasure getting to work with him," said Losey. "Obviously we exchange coaching ideas and philosophies, but with a bit of a language barrier there has to be patience on both sides which has made me better working with our kids."
Yoshimura now returns to the Challengers who begin their season on May 5th, while the Colonels continue Spring practice in April, culminating in the annual Maroon & White Spring game on April 27 at 3 p.m.
