At the "UNIVAS AWARDS 2024-3" award ceremony held on March 11, 2023, the Niigata University of Health and Welfare Athlete Support Research Center won the MS&AD Award in four categories, including the Grand Prize for "Excellent Efforts in Ensuring Safety." Received the Excellence Award.
The ``UNIVAS AWARDS'' are presented to students and organizations that have made outstanding achievements not only in athletic performance, but also in academic enrichment, safety and security, and the excitement of university sports, in recognition of the achievements of student athletes over the past year. This year, a total of 154 applications were received from member universities and competitive organizations across the country, and Niigata University of Health and Welfare applied to seven categories and received awards for excellence in four categories, the most ever.
The Athlete Support Research Center, which won the MS&AD Award for Excellence in Safety Initiatives, is working on multidisciplinary collaboration, hospital collaboration, building a trauma/injury investigation system, and training student trainers. We support students' safe and secure competitive activities. The team was praised for its thorough information sharing with Niigata Rehabilitation Hospital, a related organization, which led to improved safety for athletes and reduced risk of injury and disability.
In addition, the Man of the Year Excellence Award went to Renjiro Tanaka (4th year student in the Department of Emergency Medicine/Athletics Club). Although it was difficult for him to balance his academic studies and competitions in the Department of Emergency and Lifesaving, he worked with the goal of winning the All-Japan Intercollegiate Men's Overall Prize while aiming to become an emergency lifeguard. 2023rd place in the 3 All Japan Intercollegiate Men's Decathlon.
The Woman of the Year Excellence Award went to Rena Kimura (4th year, Department of Physical Therapy/Athletics Club). She serves as the women's captain of the track and field club and is the spiritual support of the team. She achieved the 2022 All Japan Intercollegiate Women's Javelin Throw Championship and the 2023 All Japan Intercollegiate Women's Javelin Throw 3rd place. She continued competing while aiming to become a physical therapist, and although it was a difficult path, she paved the way.
The Supporting Staff of the Year Excellence Award went to Akitsuki Yamazaki (4th year student in the Department of Health and Sports Studies/Hardball Baseball Club). She worked as a trainer for the baseball team and supported the team as a central figure behind the scenes. In addition to conditioning players, she also worked to manage injuries and create a recovery flow from injury, in order to prevent players from re-injury. In community contribution activities such as baseball classes conducted by the baseball club, she has provided injury prevention awareness and training guidance to over 1000 coaches, children, and students each year.
Niigata University of Health and Welfare is one of the few comprehensive medical universities in Japan with 6 faculties and 15 departments where you can study nursing, medical care, rehabilitation, nutrition, sports, welfare, and medical IT. You can take full advantage of the benefits of being a comprehensive medical university and learn practically about the "team medical care" that is needed in the medical field. In addition, we have built a university-wide systematic support system for acquiring qualifications and employment, and have achieved one of the highest national exam pass rates in the country and a high employment record. Furthermore, we take advantage of the fact that we have a sports department to offer learning that integrates sports, such as ``sports,'' ``medical care,'' ``rehabilitation,'' and ``nutrition.''
