B.LEAGUE Hope (B.Hope), a socially responsible activity of the Japan Professional Basketball League (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; Chairman: Shimada Shinji hereinafter referred to as “B.LEAGUE”), will be carrying out the following activities at the Resona Group B.LEAGUE FINALS 2024-25, which will be held at Yokohama Arena from Saturday, May 24th.
■UNIFIED SPORTS®︎ BASKETBALL GAME supported by ANYTIME FITNESS
Since 2018, B.Hope and Special Olympics Japan (hereinafter referred to as SON) have been carrying out activities with the aim of realizing a symbiotic society in which people with and without disabilities can share their feelings and deepen their understanding through basketball. Since 2022, we have been promoting the “Challenge with ALL” project, which will strengthen cooperation between B.LEAGUE clubs and SON's local organizations, with the aim of expanding their activities to the region through more local and regional developments.
This time, from the districts participating in this project, SO athletes (people with intellectual disabilities) and partners (people with intellectual disabilities) from Tokyo and Aichi will form a team together with special guests from B.LEAGUE to hold a special game. Through basketball, we embody the world of diversity and inclusion.
[Date of implementation]Scheduled to start on Saturday, May 24th, 2025 at 12:45
[Location]Yokohama Arena (main court)
【Participants】
Special Olympics 11 SO athletes from Tokyo, Japan and Aichi
Special Olympics 4 SO partners from Japan, Tokyo and Aichi
Sakurai Ryota (General Manager, Levanga Hokkaido)
Takeuchi Joji (affiliated with Osaka Evessa)
*Participants may change.
[Sponsored]ANYTIME FITNSS
*Unified Sports® is a special Olympics (SO) initiative in which people with intellectual disabilities (athletes) and people with intellectual disabilities (partners) form teams, practice and games, and build relationships with each other through sports to understand and support each other's individuality. SO is an international sports organization that provides people with intellectual disabilities with various sports training and competitions throughout the year, supporting social participation. Special Olympics Japan (SON) was founded in 1994 and works with the slogan “Be with all®” to create a society where diverse people can live, regardless of whether they have intellectual disabilities or not. For information on SON and B.Hope's efforts, please visit the special website (https://www.bleague.jp/b-hope_son/).
■B.Hope PLANET ACTION
Climate change, which leads to extreme heat and disasters caused by global warming, is a major factor in the emissions of greenhouse gases (mainly CO2) produced by the mass consumption of various energy essential in everyday life. More than half of the CO2 emitted worldwide is generated through the mining of new energy resources, so it is said that it is important to recycle existing resources and make effective use of them.
Against the backdrop of these environmental issues, B.Hope will implement efforts to increase resources that can be recycled (recycled) through proper waste sorting, aiming to reduce waste waste and CO2 emissions at this conference (※1). This initiative will also be carried out as part of the “HEROs PLEDGE (※2)” promoted by the Nippon Foundation.
(※1) Compared to last year (waste volume and CO2 emissions at the previous conference)
(※2) HEROs PLEDGE is a project that aims to reduce disposable plastics across the sports world in order to address the global marine waste problem and climate change, and to eliminate disposable plastic waste, which is one of the causes. (https://www.heros-pledge.jp/）
1 Thank you for the sensibility action
[Date of implementation]May 24th (Sat), 25th (Sun), 27th (Tue), 2025
[Location]The “B.Hope Booth” area on the 2nd floor, each garbage station at the venue, the “B.Hope Booth” area
[Contents]Staff are calling for waste sorting at each garbage station. Those who have separated will receive original stickers at the “B.Hope booth.” In addition, prior to the event, visitors were invited to discern through a video of B.LEAGUE players appearing in the event, and they sent out a call for their discerning experience. (Scheduled one week before the event)
[Grant]Nippon Foundation
*Not held on the 27th if the GAME2 is selected
2 Recycling paper waste
[Contents]The paper waste produced at the tournament will not be disposed of at the venue, but will be recycled, using it as recycled paper.
For more information about this activity, please see the special website.
https://www.bleague.jp/postseason/2024-25/finals/b-hope/
