The Sekisui Challengers are an American football team located in Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan. They are a member of the X-League.
Team history 1978 Team founded as a practice team for the Momoyama Gakuin University's football team. Team was nicknamed the "Silver Tigers" due to a majority of the team being fans of the Hanshin Tigers professional baseball team. 1979 Joined the X-League X2 division. 1985 Promoted from X2 to X1. 1989 Team name changed from Silver Tigers to Red Bears. 1993 Sponsorship agreement with Asahi Soft Drinks. Team name changed from Red Bears to Wild Jo. Finished the season 5th in the division. Lost X2-X1 replacement game. Demoted to X2 for the following season. 1996 Team promoted from X2 to X1. 1998 Team name changed to Challengers. Advanced to the Final6 Semifinals. 2000 Won first Tokyo Super Bowl and Rice Bowl Championships. 2001 Won second Tokyo Super Bowl championship. Lost to Kwansei Gakuin 30-27 in the Rice Bowl. 2007 Won West division title. Lost to Kashima in the Final6 Semi-finals 7-24. 2024 Sponsorship with Asahi Soft Drinks ended. Team reaches sponsorship agreement with Sekuisui Chemical Co., LTD. Team renamed "Sekisui Challengers".
Seasons X-League champions (1987–present)Division championsFinal Stage/Semifinals BerthWild Card /2nd Stage Berth
SeasonDivision Regular SeasonPostseason resultsAwardsHead coachesFinishWinsLossesTies1997West6th140Hiroshi Yamazaki1998West1st500Lost semi-finals match (at Recruit) 16-21Satoshi Fujita1999West1st500Lost semi-finals match (Asahi Beer) 15-20Satoshi Fujita2000West2nd510Won Wild card match (Asahi Beer) Won Semi-finals match (at Recruit) Won Tokyo Super Bowl XIV (at Matsushita Electric Works) 20-18Won 54th Rice Bowl National Championship game (Hosei) 52-13Satoshi Fujita2001West2nd430Won Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 24-6Won Semi-finals match (at Kashima) 21-13Won Tokyo Super Bowl XV (Matsushita Denko) 14-7Lost 55th Rice Bowl National Championship game (at Kwansei Gakuin) 27-30Satoshi Fujita2002West2nd420Won Wild card match (Kashima) 28-10Lost semi-finals match (at Obic) 0-30Takeshi Yamakawa2003West2nd510Won Wild card match (Obic) 16-9Lost semi-finals match (at Onward) 17-41Takeshi Yamakawa2004West2nd420Lost Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 7-10 Masato Takahashi2005West2nd510Lost Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 19-22 Masato Takahashi2006West3rd420 Masato Takahashi2007West2nd520 Lost Wild card match (Onward) 0-20Masato Takahashi2008West1st710 Lost semi-finals match (Kashima) 7-24Yoshito Fujimoto2009West2nd620 Won 2nd stage match (Nihon Unisys) 55-13Lost 2nd stage match (Fujitsu) 21-43Yoshito Fujimoto2010West2nd610 Won 2nd stage match (Meiji Yasuda) 29-24Lost 2nd stage match (Kashima) 23-38Yoshito Fujimoto2011West2nd521 Won 2nd stage match (All Mitsubishi) 24-3Lost 2nd stage match (Obic) 13-20Yoshito Fujimoto2012West2nd520 Lost 2nd stage match (at Asahi Beer) 20-26 OTLost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 12-29Yabe2013West2nd520 Lost 2nd stage match (Asahi Beer) 10-34Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 17-44Yabe2014West3rd530 Lost 2nd stage match (Lixil) 7-23Lost 2nd stage match (at IBM) 10-37Tatsuhide Fukuda2015West2nd620 Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 9-52Lost 2nd stage match (IBM) 20-37Naoto Matsumoto2016West3rd360Won Wildcard match (All Mitsubishi) 20-6 Lost quarterfinals match (at Fujitsu) 6-42Won Super9/Battle9 classification match (AS ONE) 39-7Naoto Matsumoto2017West3rd450Won Super9/Battle9 classification match (AS ONE) 27-7Takashi Kubo2018West3rd450Takashi Kubo2019X1 Area West1st900Lost X1 Area Final (at Asahi Beer) 31-34 Garret Safron (X1 Area MVP & ROY)Takashi Kubo2020X1 Area West1st300Takashi Kubo2021X1 Area West1st510Takashi Masahige2022X1 Super Div. B4th340Lost quarterfinals match (at Panasonic) 28-38Takashi Masahige2023X1 Super Div. A5th340Takashi Masahige2024X1 Super 4th530Won Quarterfinals Match (Tokyo Gas) 21-0Lost Semifinals Match (at Fujitsu) 21-52Takashi Masahige2025X1 Super West2nd630Lost Quarterfinals Match (Tokyo Gas) 13-16Shinichi TakedaTotal132631(1997–2025, includes only regular season)16250(1997–2025, includes only playoffs)148881(1997–2025, includes both regular season and playoffs)
Head coaches CoachYearsRecordHiroshi Yamazaki 1997 1–4 Satoshi Fujita 1998–2001 26–7 Takeshi Yamakawa 2002–2003 15–5 Masato Takahashi 2004–2007 18–10 Yoshito Fujimoto 2008–2011 27–10–1 Yabe 2012–2013 10–8 Tatsuhide Fukuda 2014 5–5 Naoto Matsumoto 2015–2016 11–11 Takashi Kubo 2017–present 21–11
Current import players Jersey #NamePositionYears with the teamAlma materAchievements #0 Tre'Vaughn Craig DB 2023–present Central Oklahoma 2x All X1 Super Team member (2024, 2025) #8 Garrett Safron QB 2019–present Sacramento State X-League Area MVP & ROY (2019)All X1 Area Team member (2019) All X1 Super Team member (2024) #1 Boogie Knight WR 2023–present Louisiana-Monroe X1 Super ROY (2023) 3x All X1 Super Team member (2023–2025) X1 Super MVP (2025) Former Import players NamePositionYears with the teamAlma materAchievements Robert Earl Johnson II WR 2018–2022 Mississippi State All X-League Area Team member (2019) Davion Washington DB 2022 Wingate Robbie Wallace LB 2022 Wingate Brison Burris DB 2019–2021 Miami University All X-League Area Team member (2019) Michael R. Taylor Jr. LB 2019–2021 Florida All X-League Area Team member (2019) Clint Floyd LB 2017–2018 Arizona State Alex Niznak QB 2017–2018 Central Michigan Brandon Berry LB 2018 Buffalo Donnie King WR 2015–2017 Hawai'i Makani Kema-Kaleiwahea DL 2017 Hawaii Darwin Rogers TE 2016 Arizona State Paul Porras SS 2016 Rice Albert Griffin DE 2015 Lindenwood Kaniela Tuipulotu DT 2014 Hawaii Siasau Matagiese DT 2014 Hawaii
References
External links (Japanese)