News
SPORTS SHORTS | Kansei Matsuzawa Making His Mark as University of Hawaii Kicker
Reporting on American college football standout Kansei Matsuzawa and his unique path to success from Japan, Marines manager Masato Yoshii's departure and more.
Keep an eye on Kansei Matsuzawa as the 2025 American college football season marches on.
The University of Hawaii senior placekicker is one of the sport's breakout stars this season. And he's emerged as a candidate for the Lou Groza Award, presented annually to the top college football kicker in the United States.
With no time remaining, Matsuzawa nailed a 38-yard field goal in Hawaii's 23-20 season-opening victory over Stanford University on August 23.
Since then, the Chiba Prefecture native has remained perfect. He's 16-for-16 on field-goal attempts for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, who improved to 4-2 with a 44-35 win over Air Force on September 27 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
With 16 field goals in a row to open the season, Matsuzawa established a Mountain West Conference record.
Matsuzawa acknowledged he's enjoying his growing status as a celebrity, he told Hawaii News Now, a collaboration between three local TV stations. He described it as being "pretty cool" to represent Japan and the state of Hawaii.
"I'm enjoying it, yeah, it's fine," Matsuzawa said, according to Hawaii News Now. "Like I can focus on like football, you know, like separate on the field and off the field, so I think I'm dealing with all the media stuff, like, pretty well."
Getting to Know Kansei Matsuzawa
A 2017 graduate of Makuhari Sogo High School in Chiba, Matsuzawa played three years on the school's soccer team.
What led to his participation in American football?
After attending an NFL game (Los Angeles Rams vs Oakland Raiders) at age 20, Matsuzawa developed a strong passion for the sport.
With YouTube providing learning tools, Matsuzawa devoted time to teaching himself how to kick, and he pursued opportunities to become a college football player in the US. As the University of Hawaii Athletics website noted in a recent Kansei Matsuzawa feature, he was a real go-getter, mailing videos of himself kicking to numerous American colleges.
Matsuzawa's persistence paid off.
Before arriving at the University of Hawaii as a walk-on, Matsuzawa, now 26, attended Hocking (Ohio) College, a two-year school, and competed for its football team. He made 12 of 17 field goals in his sophomore year, showcasing his strong leg in the process. This included a season-best 50-yard field goal.
Rainbow Warriors special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield said Matsuzawa's passion for football and dedication to his craft is inspiring.
"I'm so glad the world is getting to see what I see on a daily basis," Sheffield said, according to a September 2025 feature story on The Athletic website. "Nobody deserves the spotlight more than this kid right here."
Baseball
Marines Manager Yoshii Announces Resignation
Chiba Lotte Marines manager Masato Yoshii, who has led the Pacific League club since 2023, will not return as dugout boss in 2026. His resignation was announced on Saturday, October 4, a day before the NPB team's final game of the season.
On Sunday, the PL pennant-winning Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeated the Marines 5-2 at Zozo Marine Stadium.
In 2025, Lotte had a 56-84-3 record, finishing 31½ games behind SoftBank.
The Marines went 71-66-6 and finished in third place in 2024, advancing to the PL Climax Series for the second time in as many years under Yoshii.
During the 2023 campaign, the Marines had a 70-68-5 record, placing second in the PL and earning a playoff berth in Yoshii's debut season as skipper.
Yoshii, 60, was an NPB and MLB pitcher (1985-2007). He worked as a pitching coach for more than a decade before becoming the Marines manager.
After Sunday's loss to the Hawks, Yoshii gave a farewell speech on the field.
"I'm sorry for putting the staff, coaches and players through such a tough time, too," Yoshii was quoted as saying by Daily Sports. "The results are all my responsibility. I really wanted to keep going a little longer, but I'm stepping down as manager today."
Yoshii then said, "We fought for three seasons, each with its own character. It was a fun three years."
Before his final speech as Lotte manager wrapped up, Yoshii offered words of encouragement to the players.
"Players, you have nothing but hope," he said, according to Daily Sports. "Believe in your potential and keep pushing forward."
Saburo Omura, 49, received a promotion from head coach to manager to immediately fill the vacancy.
Basketball
Eight B.League Teams Sweep Season-Opening Series
From the B.League's Eastern Conference, the Chiba Jets, the Utsunomiya Brex, the Sunrockers Shibuya, the Sendai 89ers and the Yokohama B-Corsairs all went 2-0 in their opening series of the 2025-26 season.
And among the Western Conference's 13 clubs, the Shimane Susanoo Magic, the Hiroshima Dragonflies and the Saga Ballooners also won back-to-back games in Week 1, which wrapped up on Sunday, October 5.
Three of these eight teams have new head coaches who made their debuts in charge last weekend.
The Sunrockers are now led by American Kyle Bailey, a longtime former assistant, and the 89ers are guided by another American, Dan Tacheny.
For the Susanoo Magic, the new bench boss is Serbian Petar Bozic.
After Shimane's 94-61 road win on Sunday over the Koshigaya Alphas, Bozic said he was satisfied with his team's effort.
"Despite the tough back-to-back games, our players fought hard at a high intensity throughout," Bozic commented. "I'm proud that everyone contributed to the victory."
The new Shimane coach also pointed to his team's 28 assists and eight turnovers in the series finale as a positive sign.
"Playing efficiently and executing high-precision basketball despite fatigue was a major achievement," Bozic said.
The B-Corsairs have only had one winning season (33-27 in 2022-23) since the B.League's inception in 2016. Winning a pair of games at Okinawa Arena against the perennial title-contending Ryukyu Golden Kings certainly gives the club a confidence boost.
Former Shimane star Seiya Ando, a veteran point guard, had 17- and 16-point efforts, respectively, in Yokohama's 77-75 and 79-75 wins (his first two games in a B-Corsairs uniform) on October 4 and 5.
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Soccer
Feyenoord's Ueda Continues Impressive Start to the Season
Ayase Ueda has been an offensive catalyst for Dutch club Feyenoord at the start of the 2025-26 season.
The 27-year-old striker leads the team with eight goals in its first eight games. He scored twice (20th and 88th minutes) in a 3-2 triumph over Utrecht in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday, October 5.
Feyenoord is in first place in the Eredivisie (Dutch first division) with seven wins and one draw to date.
Of Ueda's 22 shots so far, 14 have been on target.
Figure Skating
Nishino Places 2nd at JGP Gdansk
In Poland, Japan's Taiga Nishino finished second in the men's singles competition at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Gdansk on Saturday, October 4.
Nishino, who turns 16 on October 16, was in first place after the short program. By placing third in points in the free skate, Nishino slipped to second overall (219.35).
South Korea's Habin Choi won the event (227.26), while Germany's Genrikh Gartung claimed the bronze medal (219.14).
Daiya Ebara, who placed fourth (211.98), also represented Japan in Gdansk.
Nishino has already qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final, which will be held in Nagoya from December 4-7.
Golf
Katsu Finishes 3rd in Lotte Championship
Minami Katsu placed third in the LPGA Tour's Lotte Championship on Sunday, October 4. She was two strokes off the pace in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
Katsu completed the tourney with a 15-under 273. She had four under-par rounds in succession with a 4-under 68, a 70, a 66 and a 68.
It was Katsu's second-best finish of the LPGA season. The 27-year-old tied for second at the Women's British Open in early August.
Runner-up Hyo Joo Kim finished the event at 16-under 272 and fellow Korean Youmin Hwang earned a $450,000 USD (about ¥67.5 million JPY) winner's paycheck with a 17-under 271.
Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.