Ryoga Okada and Ichiyo Kawamata are both unassuming University of Guam students on the Mangilao campus. But in certain circles on the island of Guam, they have become known as the “Japanese Exchange” and have helped the UOG Men’s Soccer team become a powerhouse of scoring in the Guam Football Association Budweiser Amateur Men’s League.

Since joining the Tritons six games ago, the team has averaged 9.33 goals a match and the “Exchange “ has helped UOG to a nine match winning streak and a 5-0 victory over the Islanders FC, the biggest rivals the Tritons have on Guam and the first time either team has dominated the other in league play.

Okada and Kawamata arrived on the Guam quietly on January 20 as exchange students from Okayama University in Japan. UOG’s Professional and International Programs Director, Carlos R. Taitano, was driving the two around Guam on their first day on the island and the students asked him where they can play soccer on Guam and Taitano called the Athletics Director at UOG, Doug Palmer, and Palmer said that UOG does not have any athletic rules about exchange students, but in his experience at NCAA, NAIA and junior college institutions on the USA mainland, verifiable full-time exchange students have been able to play at the other intuitions where he has worked and he would ask the UOG Athletic Compliance Committee what they thought.

The compliance committee was very positive about the individuals and felt the exchange students should be able to play since they are full-time UOG students and they will be at UOG for a year of classes and it would be good experience for both the exchange students and the regular UOG students on the men’s soccer team.

The same day, the two young men practiced with both UOG soccer teams as the men’s and women’s soccer teams at UOG practice together and they had a positive impression on both team’s players but UOG Soccer Coach Rod Hidalgo was not present at practice, but the UOG teams told Coach Rod that the two were “Good” and he saw them the next day in a 2nd practice and he was impressed. So Ryoga and Ichiyo were added to the UOG men’s team.

Said Coach Rod Hidalgo about Okada and Kawamata “They have very good soccer instincts and technical skills at high speed. They complement the team very well”. And when asked about working well with the team, Coach Rod said “The team have taken to them in like family. They get to hang out with the team very often, both on and off the field”.

The two combined for seven goals in their first match for UOG against the Guam Shipyard FC team as Ryoga scored four goals and Ichiyo added three goals in the 13-0 UOG victory.

Ryoga has now scored 20 goals in the six matches (averages 3.33 goals a game) he has played and Ichiyo has added 12 goals (2 goals per game average). Ryoga may well now be the top scorer in the Guam Football Association Budweiser Amateur Men’s League depending on how others in the league scored last week.

The two students have mainly played for their local school teams growing up and they actually do not play together at Okayama University, but on separate teams. Ichiyo tells AD Palmer that he actually plays mostly Futsal (Indoor Soccer) at his home university while Ryoga tells Palmer that Okayama University has four outdoor men’s soccer teams and he plays on the top team for Okayama. Both players are captains of their Okayama University soccer teams.

The two have been honored to be asked to practice with the Guam Men’s National Team on Monday and Tuesday nights at the GFA National Training Center and both consider it to a “Special” privilege and huge help to their soccer skill development..

Both players thank their home towns for their soccer development growing up. Both thank their high school teams at Tokushima-Kita High School for Ichiyo and Tottori Nishi High School for Ryoga for their strong fundamentals in soccer.

Both are very happy with their University of Guam teammates, they have been asked to attend team barbeques and both are playing on the soccer teams President’s Cup team as the intramural competition leads up to Charter Day on campus on March 12.

Okada said “That playing for UOG is a special experience and memory and I want to tell my friends in Japan to come here and play for UOG too”.

Kawamata said “Yes, I have a really good time on UOG soccer and I want to share this experience with my friends back home. The soccer style on Guam is a stronger style (physical play) than what we experience in Japan, and I want more of my friends to experience the style”.

They both stated being able to join the UOG Men’s Soccer Team has made “Our UOG school life more substantial. We can now enjoy our life at UOG and Guam both on the field and off more thanks to our coaches, teachers and teammates”.

The University of Guam Men’s Soccer Team is now 9-1-0 on the season and has won 9 straight matches, the last 6 matches with the “Japanese Exchange” as members of the team.

They play the Bombers FC this Friday night, March 8 at 7:00pm at the GFA National Training Center in maybe the biggest match left on the Triton schedule as both teams are at the top of the GFA Budweiser Amateur Men’s League standings.

The PIP Student Exchange Program is now using the ability of exchange students to play varsity sports (and club sports) as a recruiting tool and has hopes of drawing more exchange students from Japan and other countries to UOG and Triton Athletics hopes to benefit from the additional recruiting pool for their varsity teams as well.

Said Athletics Director Palmer, “My former schools all benefitted from exchange students joining our athletic teams as they added athletic talent to our teams, plus the exchange students always benefitted from playing on teams for their English language development plus their social development by working with a different culture in a team setting. It is a win-win for everyone”.