Coach Hara: Change the rules to fulfill students' dreams

Aomori Gakuin University coach Hara Susumu has publicly criticized the exclusion of eight junior high school athletes from an upcoming national competition due to an administrative error by the Osaka Junior High School Athletic Federation, urging for a rule change to accommodate the students' dreams. The Japan Athletic Federation has declined to provide special relief, citing fairness concerns. The eight athletes were set to represent Osaka Prefecture at the JOC Junior Olympic Cup U16 track and field meet in Mie Prefecture in late October, but their entry was not submitted by the September 24 deadline. Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi had formally requested the federation to allow their participation, but the federation confirmed on October 3 that no special measures would be taken, noting that the system login occurred just one minute before the deadline and that this was the federation's first contact from Osaka. Coach Hara, who has led Aomori Gakuin to nine Hakone Ekiden victories, argued on X that while rules are important, they should serve the athletes' dreams when errors are caused by third parties. The federation maintains that accepting late entries would create significant fairness problems compared to other competitors who were denied participation.