*This Gunma Girls' soccer team regularly takes part in competitions around Japan, such as this two day event-the All Japan Soccer Tournament's Eastern Division Tournament held in Sugadaira, Nagoya on 2-3 October 2004. Wanting to show their dedication to the environment, the team brought their own food, their own chopsticks and of course, an Ecoflag.

All-Japan ALT Soccer Tournament http://www.altsoccertournament.com/

*The 3rd Shirahama Beach Soccer Tournament took place on Shirahama beach, Wakayama prefecture on 5 September. The many typhoons this season put the event in jeopardy until the last minute, but luckily it went ahead in fine
weather.

35 men's teams and 4 women's teams took part in the event. The men's teams were divided into nine block, with only the winner of each block advancing to the final rounds. In the afternoon target shooting and frisby competitions were held, and all the participants took part in a garbage clean up. "Beach Boys", a local high school team met a company team, "FC Hanasonic" in the final, and stamina won out over technique as the high school hopefuls took the match 5-2. They go on to the national finals on 10 October 2004 as representatives of the Kinki region.

The event enjoyed a lot of local support and was a great way to bring together people that love soccer, love the area and love the environment.

Report by Shirahama Beachsoccer Association

(21-22 August 2004, Tsuyazaki town, Fukuoka prefecture)

*Beach soccer has a long tradition in Tsuyazaki and the yearly soccer tournament always draws a large crowd. Despite having already conducted one beach clean, the typhoon of 18 August left the beach in a terrible state, with garbage thrown up everywhere, and it took hours to repair. Also, because of sea walling and other offshore activities, the state of the sand has deteriorated and become much thinner compared to just six years ago.

Taking parting this competition has increased my awareness about this problem and I hope that we can take action as part of the Ecoflag Movement. This year’s competition welcomed 910 players and 500 spectators, and with perennial favorites Mensole Hanatsuru not competing this year, the tournament offered a big chance to the other teams.

In the end, two young teams, Big Wave and Shogun Kawachi reached the final and they were tied with a goal each until extra time, when Big Wave took the match with an overhead kick that sent the crowd wild. They now go on to the finals in Okinawa as representatives of Fukuoka and as messengers for environmental action.

I feel that if we carry a simple message of ‘caring for the earth and for mankind’, then people will learn not to discard garbage carelessly. That is the feeling I get from these beach soccer tournaments and I applaud all the great people that take part.

Hiroyuki Ito, GSA Kyushu