Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers
Established1978
Based inAmagasaki, Hyogo
Head coachTakashi Kubo
General managerShigeru Kaji
Owner(s)Katsuhiko Kishigami
LeagueX-League
DivisionWest
Colors   Asahi Blue and White[1]
Mascot(s)Orange Bayarisu boy
Japan X Bowl titles:2 (2000, 2001)
Division titles3 (1998-1999, 2008)
Websitehttp://www.challengers-net.com/

The Asahi Soft Drinks 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.

Seasons

X-League Champions (1987–present) Division Champions Final Stage/Semifinals Berth Wild Card /2nd Stage Berth
Season Division Regular Season Post Season Results Awards Head coaches
Finish Wins Losses Ties
1997 West 6th 1 4 0 Hiroshi Yamazaki
1998 West 1st 5 0 0 Lost semi-finals match (at Recruit) 16-21 Satoshi Fujita
1999 West 1st 5 0 0 Lost semi-finals match (Asahi Beer) 15-20 Satoshi Fujita
2000 West 2nd 5 1 0 Won Wild card match (Asahi Beer)
Won Semi-finals match (at Recruit)
Won Tokyo Super Bowl XIV (at Matsushita Electric Works) 20-18
Won 54th Rice Bowl National Championship game (Hosei) 52-13
Satoshi Fujita
2001 West 2nd 4 3 0 Won Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 24-6
Won Semi-finals match (at Kashima) 21-13
Won Tokyo Super Bowl XV (Matsushita Denko) 14-7
Lost 55th Rice Bowl National Championship game (at Kwansei Gakuin) 27-30
Satoshi Fujita
2002 West 2nd 4 2 0 Won Wild card match (Kashima) 28-10
Lost semi-finals match (at Obic) 0-30
Takeshi Yamakawa
2003 West 2nd 5 1 0 Won Wild card match (Obic) 16-9
Lost semi-finals match (at Onward) 17-41
Takeshi Yamakawa
2004 West 2nd 4 2 0 Lost Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 7-10 Masato Takahashi
2005 West 2nd 5 1 0 Lost Wild card match (Asahi Beer) 19-22 Masato Takahashi
2006 West 3rd 4 2 0 Masato Takahashi
2007 West 2nd 5 2 0 Lost Wild card match (Onward) 0-20 Masato Takahashi
2008 West 1st 7 1 0 Lost semi-finals match (Kashima) 7-24 Yoshito Fujimoto
2009 West 2nd 6 2 0 Won 2nd stage match (Nihon Unisys) 55-13
Lost 2nd stage match (Fujitsu) 21-43
Yoshito Fujimoto
2010 West 2nd 6 1 0 Won 2nd stage match (Meiji Yasuda) 29-24
Lost 2nd stage match (Kashima) 23-38
Yoshito Fujimoto
2011 West 2nd 5 2 1 Won 2nd stage match (All Mitsubishi) 24-3
Lost 2nd stage match (Obic) 13-20
Yoshito Fujimoto
2012 West 2nd 5 2 0 Lost 2nd stage match (at Asahi Beer) 20-26 OT
Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 12-29
Yabe
2013 West 2nd 5 2 0 Lost 2nd stage match (Asahi Beer) 10-34
Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 17-44
Yabe
2014 West 3rd 5 3 0 Lost 2nd stage match (Lixil) 7-23
Lost 2nd stage match (at IBM) 10-37
Tatsuhide Fukuda
2015 West 2nd 6 2 0 Lost 2nd stage match (at Obic) 9-52
Lost 2nd stage match (IBM) 20-37
Naoto Matsumoto
2016 West 3rd 3 6 0 Won Wildcard match (All Mitsubishi) 20-6 [2]
Lost quarterfinals match (at Fujitsu) 6-42
Won Super9/Battle9 classification match (AS ONE) 39-7
Naoto Matsumoto
2017 West 3rd 4 5 0 Won Super9/Battle9 classification match (AS ONE) 27-7 Takashi Kubo
2018 West 3rd 4 5 0 Takashi Kubo
2019 X1 Area West 1st 9 0 0 Lost X1 Area Final (at Asahi Beer) 31-34 Garret Safron (X1 Area MVP & ROY) Takashi Kubo
2020 X1 Area West 1st 3 0 0 Takashi Kubo
2021 X1 Area West 1st 5 1 0 Takashi Masahige
2022 X1 Super Div. B 4th 3 4 0 Lost quarterfinals match (at Panasonic) 28-38 Takashi Masahige
2023 X1 Super Div. A 5th 3 4 0 Takashi Masahige
Total 121 57 1 (1997–2023, includes only regular season)
15 23 0 (1997–2023, includes only playoffs)
136 80 1 (1997–2023, includes both regular season and playoffs)

Head coaches

Coach Years Record
Hiroshi Yamazaki19971-4 (.200)
Satoshi Fujita1998-200126-7 (.813)
Takeshi Yamakawa2002-200315-5 (.750)
Masato Takahashi2004-200718-10 (.630)
Yoshito Fujimoto2008-201127-10-1 (.730)
Yabe2012-201310-8 (.556)
Tatsuhide Fukuda20145-5 (.500)
Naoto Matsumoto2015-201611-11 (.500)
Takashi Kubo2017-present21-11 (.656)

Current import players

Jersey # Name Position Years with the team Alma Mater Achievements
#1Boogie Knight[3]WR2023-presentLouisiana-Monroe
#0Tre'Vaughn CraigDB2023-presentCentral Oklahoma
#8Garrett S. SafronQB2019-presentSacramento StateX-League Area MVP & ROY (2019)
All X-League Area Team member (2019)

Former Import players

Name Position Years with the team Alma Mater Achievements
Robert Earl Johnson IIWR2018-22Mississippi StateAll X-League Area Team member (2019)
Davion WashingtonDB2022Wingate
Robbie WallaceLB2022Wingate
Brison BurrisDB2019-21Miami UniversityAll X-League Area Team member (2019)
Michael R. Taylor Jr.LB2019-21FloridaAll X-League Area Team member (2019)
Clint FloydLB2017-18Arizona State
Alex Niznak [4]QB2017-18Central Michigan
Brandon BerryLB2018Buffalo
Donnie KingWR2015-17Hawai'i
Makani Kema-KaleiwaheaDL2017Hawaii
Darwin RogersTE2016Arizona State
Paul PorrasSS2016Rice
Albert GriffinDE2015Lindenwood
Kaniela TuipulotuDT2014Hawaii
Siasau MatagieseDT2014Hawaii

References

  1. "X-League profile, Asahi Soft Drinks Challengers". April 17, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  2. Marantz, Ken (November 7, 2016). "Challengers, Finies notch wild-card victories". xleague.com. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  3. Shaffer, Mike (June 16, 2023). "Jefferson grad Knight runs different route in football dream". starbeacon.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  4. Marantz, Ken (May 21, 2017). "Continental Drifter". insidesportjapan.com. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
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