SPOLUTION × Blind Soccer The keyword for the 2020 Paralympics is "OFF"!?

The SPOLUTION team, a solutions unit striving to create new business opportunities by viewing sports content not just as media slots but also as solutions. Team members will introduce future sports-related business opportunities from their respective perspectives in a relay column format.

Blind soccer. It's a so-called "disability sport" played without relying on vision.
However, it is increasingly becoming a "sport for everyone."
Approximately 350 trial sessions are held in schools annually, and adult trial sessions are also hugely popular.
Why did this movement emerge?
We present a conversation between Eigo Matsuzaki, Secretary General of the Japan Blind Soccer Association who developed the experience program, and Tomohiro Sawada of Dentsu SPOLUTION, who named the experience program " OFF T!ME."

Why "Blind Soccer" now?

―The blind soccer experience "OFF T!ME" is described as a program where you close your eyes and "play through communication." What exactly does that entail?

Matsuzaki: It's a roughly two-hour program designed for people with no soccer experience to enjoy. Participants wear blindfolds, use their bodies, and sometimes a ball to rediscover their five senses. It's a place to reconnect with the joy of communication and have a truly unique experience.

―This program originally started for elementary school students, right?

Matsuzaki: That's right. Under the name "Sports Education," we now run about 350 sessions annually.

Sawada: It's impressive that you run it almost every weekday. The kids must gain so much from it.

Matsuzaki: Yes. First, since the facilitators are visually impaired, it deepens understanding of people with disabilities. "They have challenges, but they also have strengths," "Oh, they're just like us!" Then, by not using their eyes, participants discover how little they normally use their other senses or how carelessly they communicate. There are as many discoveries as there are participants.

―When did you start offering sessions for adults?

Matsuzaki: We started in August 2011. This year, we've fully launched as "OFF T!ME."

―It's been featured in various media and inquiries are flooding in. Why is it popular now?

Sawada: Today, we live in an "OVER ON" state where every electronic device around us—computers, smartphones, tablets, game consoles—is constantly ON. As we all know, this creates various problems. I myself was searching for a solution, and through blind soccer, I realized, "Just turn your eyes OFF." Turning your eyes OFF instantly solves the OVER ON problem. It gives us what we lack in modern life. That's probably why it's so popular now.

The OFF world is full of discoveries!

Matsuzaki: Sawada-san, what were your impressions after trying it?

Sawada: It was simply fun. Closing my eyes opened up an unknown world—it was two hours unlike anything I'd ever experienced. We participated as a group of three—my boss and a junior colleague—and our relationship improved compared to before. I felt we grew closer. It felt like we achieved in two hours what we hadn't managed over many years. Closing your eyes means you're in a critical situation; you can't survive without holding hands. I thought that was great.

Matsuzaki: Even at the social gathering afterward, you can really feel how much closer the members of the same team have become. Sometimes it even looks like pseudo-romance...

Sawada: I had this image of merging with others, of my body expanding. That's probably how a team should be. It was an experience you could call pleasurable.

Matsuzaki: The value isn't just in turning things OFF. I hope this teamwork experience with eyes OFF can recreate sensations adults often forget, or areas we notice but rarely dare to explore. For example, I want everyone to experience the trust born from a high-five or a handshake.

Sawada: Plus, participants can feel their own humanity and sense the humanity around them. That feels incredibly good, doesn't it?

Matsuzaki: "OFF T!ME" shows that being yourself works well. Sawada-san, what did you think? Didn't you feel that reading the room too much stifles your true self?

Sawada: You can't get by without showing your true self. You'd become isolated. You need to bring out your best qualities and get them recognized by others for relationships to work, right? Matsuzaki, do you ever see people who finish without showing themselves?

Matsuzaki: That's when the facilitator steps in. If someone is too concerned about others, it affects the team. We believe physical proximity fosters connection, so sometimes the facilitator will suddenly come over and give a high-five. That's an attempt to close the distance between participants.

Sawada: Where do you find that trigger to activate that change?

Matsuzaki: We deliberately draw attention to the reserved person. At one corporate training session, there was a foreigner who couldn't speak Japanese. Yet, no one spoke to him in English, and no one talked to him at all, so he ended up isolated. In such situations, the facilitator mustn't turn a blind eye. "This person is isolated, right? You all work in the same office, you know he only speaks English, yet you're only speaking Japanese. No one is reaching out to him. Who will step up and take the lead?" I said it clearly and firmly.

―It really highlights how things that seem obvious can actually be overlooked, doesn't it? Were there other examples like that?

Matsuzaki: At another corporate training session, there was a participant with hearing loss. But since it wasn't visible, no one understood why they were isolated. This person suddenly told me, "People might think I usually speak loudly, but I have hearing loss. If I'm holding you back because I can't communicate well, I'll step aside." But isn't that crucial for this team? Since they said it was okay to mention their hearing loss in front of everyone, I asked, "You all work in the same department and now know this person has hearing loss. How will you collaborate? Let's figure that out here." That created a shift in communication. We deliberately bring differences to the surface—visible disabilities, invisible disabilities, all of them.

Sawada: When you join "OFF T!ME," individual abilities awaken, but the team also evolves into one that "acknowledges differences."
.

Matsuzaki: Exactly. And that's also the ideal society I'm striving to create.

I want to expand the OFF world.

―How will "OFF T!ME" evolve from here?

Matsuzaki: In the future, we're considering creating different versions, like programs specifically for soccer players. We want it to be something everyone can enjoy as much as possible. But there are things we can do precisely because we're the Japan Blind Soccer Association, a competitive organization. "OFF T!ME" was born because we were desperately thinking about communication to aim for victory. And our vision at the Japan Blind Soccer Association isn't achieved just by winning. We want to firmly establish a path where experiencing blind soccer changes how people view those with disabilities.
Mr. Sawada, how do you want to convey "OFF T!ME" to the world?

Sawada: I believe the walls between people are growing higher every year. But participating in "OFF T!ME" can break down those walls. To do that, people must participate voluntarily. And if they participate consistently, the world should change.

―Why did you choose the word "OFF"?

Sawada: I liked that it goes against the current trend in games. Modern games start by turning the power ON, but I honestly felt the perspective of turning OFF part of the body's function in sports like blind soccer was new. Also, expressing "disability" as "OFF" felt positive and good.

―"OFF T!ME" is also time spent interacting with people with disabilities, isn't it?

Sawada: Exactly. Moreover, in that setting, people with disabilities are accustomed to being in a "state with their eyes OFF," so in a way, they're in a superior position compared to us. I call them "OFFSPERT" – OFF experts. I want to expand these concepts surrounding OFF even further.

Matsuzaki: I believe there are various kinds of OFF time, each offering its own insights. In the future, I think we should collaborate with other disability sports and other forms of OFF. That could become a prescription for each individual. Furthermore, I want to use it to understand the sports of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and I hope it can also become an opportunity for volunteer training.

Sawada: The Japan Blind Soccer Association's goal isn't just to make the national team the best in the world. It's about creating a society where people with and without disabilities mix together. I feel like we've already taken that first step.

Matsuzaki:The World Championships will be held in Shibuya, Tokyo, in November 2014. While we want that event to draw attention, we also want as many people as possible to feel the importance of taking time off.

 

★What is the "Sporolution" team?

It's an internal unit within Dentsu Inc. that approaches sports content not just as "media assets," but as "solutions" to solve business challenges and project issues, and plans accordingly.
The team brings together diverse talents including strategic planners, promotion planners, copywriters, art directors, technologists, consultants, and producers, all with extensive experience in sports planning. Through our Solution Director system, we provide not just "ideas for expression," but also "ideas for solutions," all under one roof.