Keisuke Honda wins the “HEROs OF THE YEAR” award for a social contribution project sponsored by JRCS!
In recognition of the activities of the “AFRICA DREAM SOCCER TOUR”, a social contribution project sponsored by JRCS, its organizer Keisuke Honda, a professional footballer, has been awarded “HEROs OF THE YEAR”, which is the highest prize of the ” HEROs AWARD 2020″.
The “AFRICA DREAM SOCCER TOUR” is a project which involves Japanese coaches traveling to countries in East Africa to provide free football training to disadvantaged children.
The aim is to give children a choice of careers, by going beyond football training and offering programming lessons together with visits to companies and factories.
The Nippon Foundation bestows the “HEROs AWARD 2020” to celebrate the social contribution activities made by athletes. In the past, the “HEROs OF THE YEAR” award has gone to Tsuneyasu Miyamoto for his work in creating opportunities for people in Africa to interact with each other, and also to Tsuyoshi Kitazawa for his work in creating social values in disabled people’s football.
The winner of the “HEROs OF THE YEAR” award this year, Keisuke Honda, appeared via video from Brazil at the awards ceremony in Tokyo on Monday 21 December, 2020 and made the following comments.
“We began this project because we wanted to give the opportunity to poor children in the region to realize their dreams through football. Together with our donors, we hold the hope to nurture these children so that in the future they can become footballers and other professionals”. (an extract)
Click here to read more about the study tour conducted by JRCS as part of the “AFRICA DREAM SOCCER TOUR”. JRCS continues to support children’s dreams through a variety of projects, helping to attract and develop talent in the marine industry.
The award was accepted on behalf of Keisuke Honda by Motoki Futamura, project director (on the left is Nippon Foundation Chairman Sasakawa)
Keisuke Honda expressed his joy and gratitude via a video link from Brazil