2012 Volume 20 Issue 1 Pages 5-19
The Great East Japan Earthquake caused extensive damage to the sport world as well as the other areas. The purpose of this study is to identify the main powers which promoted the revival of the sport clubs damaged in the disaster. We studied the baseball club in a senior high school damaged in tsunami and a wheelchair basketball club for physical disabled persons as a local sport club damaged in earthquake, on the basis of data recorded during the interviews for staffs and members of the two clubs.
While there was nobody died among the staffs, the members, and their families of each club, their valuable strongholds were greatly damaged by tsunami or earthquake, and houses of the coach or the members were completely destroyed by tsunami. We acknowledged that, both their own powers and the others’ powers were engaged in the process of revival of each club. The main players or coach in each club exercised “spontaneous powers” to secure their practice places and restart their practices. However, they also needed “supporting powers” by others to secure the places. In addition, another kind of “supporting powers” by others given even before the practice restarted were also valuable. They were the powers of others that cheered or gave relief goods and donations. We believe that such powers reinforced the “spontaneous powers” and the powers for revival of the two clubs. Furthermore, the powers were behind “resurgent powers” of the coach and the member whose houses had been destroyed. In particular, the specific ties with the others, the other clubs or the organizations in each field were the main source for “supporting powers,” but in terms of the relief goods and donations, the power beyond the ties played an important role.
