Seven Soka University students will be representing Japan at the first “FISU World University Cheerleading Championships” held in Lodz, Poland in October.

The world college cheerleading championship is a world competition to be held for the first time as a university cheerleading field. In Japan, a preliminary selection was held in Tokyo / Arena Tachikawa Tachihi in June, to determine the representatives. In the first screening there was a performance examination and then based on the videos of the first screening, under the evaluations of the Japan Olympic Committee of the Public Interest Foundation, the Japan Cheerleading Association and the Japan Sports Chia & Dance Federation the final selection was held.

As a result, the pair of Masaki Matsuo (3rd-year・Faculty of Letters) and Koichi Omoto (3rd-year Faculty of Education) in the "Team Performance Cheer Hip Hop Doubles" section. With Mr. Matsuo and Mr. Omoto in the “Team Performance Cheer Hip Hop” as team “WORLD WINGS”, which includes 17 college students (7 Soka University students), Koichi Segushi (3rd-year・Faculty of Education), Manami Mori (2nd-year・Faculty of Business Administration), Atsuki Kuwajima (1st-year・Faculty of Economics), Koji Shimokawa (1st-year・Faculty of Business Administration) and Satsuki Sugiyama (1st-year・Faculty of Business Administration) were elected as representatives of Japan. Of the eight sections in the competition, 2 sections will include Soka University students.

Mr. Matsuo and Mr. Oomoto, who will participate in the two sections said, "So far, we have danced in tournaments that took place in the world, but there were no competitions limited to university students. Being able to interact with dancers of the same generation in the world, We are looking forward to what we can do and we are proud to be able to participate as representatives of Japan from Soka University at this event. We are determined to show appreciation as Soka University students and deliver a performance will not regret. We will practice hard to reach number one in the world, to open paths for our juniors of Soka University."