Date: July 11th, Sunday
Location: Fukushi Enterprise Sumida Field
Participants: 200+ participants, 6 Mirai no Mori staff
Special Sponsors: 
COTT 
SimpleGroup
インド料理ムンバイMumbai 
iki Espresso Tokyo
Rangitoto Tokyo
Blue Compass
Ocean road coffee
 
Supported by: Haribo

Program:

On July 11th, Country Origin Touch Rugby Tournament (COTT) held their very first charity event! We would like to thank COTT for choosing Mirai no Mori as their charity of choice, as well as all the other sponsors, volunteers, and participants that made this event a great success! 

In the humid blazing heat, over 200 people came together that afternoon to enjoy a game of touch rugby (**The field was spacious and necessary safety measures were in place for Covid-19). We kicked off the event with an opening ceremony and a special HAKA performance by the New Zealand Team!

Then the games began! There were 12 teams in total; children, parents, men and women from various countries all came together to create mixed teams. This is what’s great about touch rugby, it is non-contact and neither your age, gender, nor experience matters. We were all able to gather together with one thing in mind – to just enjoy ourselves. 

Despite the rain and hail in the middle of the games, everyone continued to have a blast. In fact, it was the most memorable moment for many as people came together to chat and kids continued to run around, the smiles never leaving their face. The teams even decided to lug their heavy gazebo tents around to the front to gather together! 

Eventually the rain passed and all teams were able to play their hearts out until the very end. It was beautiful getting to see the players warming up together regardless of teams, parents and children having a fantastic time, and everyone simply connecting through a rugby ball.

During the event we also had a raffle, auction and sold KEEN charity t-shirts. Thank you to everyone who contributed as we were able to raise as much as ¥294,415. This will go directly to support our activities for the marginalized youth we serve. We appreciate everyone’s continuous support as we would not be able to keep doing what we do otherwise. 

Finally, congratulations to everyone who played and a special congrats to the New Zealand team for winning the tournament! 

This eventful day was brought to a close by a beautiful rainbow against the tranquil sunset. We can all confidently say we were there to just have a good time and we did. 

We would like to thank COTT, all the supporters and sponsors once again and we are excited to see what COTT will continue to bring to charities in Japan.