In Japan, innovation in extracurricular sports activities, such as the formation of a comprehensive sports club, has been considered necessary from both policy and academic viewpoints. However, currently, the number of schools adopting such innovations and the number of innovations adopted are both limited. Therefore, academic reports that describe and explain such innovation are few, indicating that accumulating knowledge on why such rare extracurricular sports activities are adopted by schools is an urgent task for the Management for Physical Education and Sport. Hence, this article aims to identify factors that promote innovation in extracurricular sports activities by examining the adoption process of such innovations.
A case study was conducted on the comprehensive sports club of X High School, established by teacher A. Data were gathered through interview surveys of three teachers involved in establishing the club and related documents. The club has multiple divisions（e.g., for basketball, futsal, fitness, etc.）and students who join this club voluntarily participate in the activities of these divisions.
The findings are as follows:
First, the teacher’s sports value consciousness was an important factor that allowed engagement with diverse sports. This was because the possibility that a teacher was interested in the needs of students not engaged in any extracurricular sports activities was extremely low unless they possessed such sports value consciousness. Essentially, it was suggested that this view of sports was a prerequisite for devising the comprehensive sports club concept based on the potential needs of students who were not engaged in extracurricular sports activities. In addition, the teacher developed such sports value consciousness by participating in a comprehensive community sports club. This implied that a comprehensive community sports club could be an opportunity to reconsider the system of extracurricular sports activities.
Second, teacher A focused on students not engaged in any extracurricular sports activities and comprehended their potential needs because students who did not engage in club activities had no sense of belonging to school. These students needed to participate in sports for enjoyment and required various sports.
Finally, teacher A deliberately avoided other teachers’ vested interests when mobilizing management resources, and principal B demonstrated transformational leadership. It was revealed that teacher A did not cause conflicts with other teachers during the mobilization of management resources, making it a factor that ensured the comprehensive sports club was adopted. In addition, the latter provided legitimacy to adopting the club and ensured it shared activities that would not be burdensome for other teachers, thus suppressing their resistance and opposition.
