Photo By Sgt. Brennan Priest | CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan— A Kadena Air Force Base High School Panther player...... read more read more
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CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan— The Kubasaki Dragons faced their rivals the Kadena Panthers in the season-opener of the Department of Defense Education Activity Football League Aug. 31 at Mike Petty Stadium, Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan.
The only two high schools in the DoDEA league that are on the island of Okinawa are the Kubasaki Dragons and the Kadena Panthers. The Dragons represent Camp Foster while the Panthers hail from Kadena AFB.
“It’s the opening game of the season,” said Fred Bales, the head coach of the Kubasaki Dragons High School Football Team. “Every game is a big game, some are just a little bit bigger than others and when you play your rival team, it’s big. It doesn’t matter what time of the season it is.”
The DoDEA league started 13 years ago and includes teams from all over the Pacific. The league includes schools from Okinawa, mainland Japan, Korea and Guam. The teams play an eight game season over the span of three months.
The Panthers won the 2017 DoDEA league championship.
As the Panthers rivals, this game is important for the Dragons and the 2018 season. The team is getting better every week. They are young and the players are still learning and growing. Each player is practicing really hard and improving every day, said Bales.
The Panthers head coach, Sergio Mendoza, views the game as a tool to build young men and grow individually.
“The importance is not the game,” said Mendoza. “It’s helping these guys mature and become better individuals, people that one day can be depended on out in their community. This game is just a metaphor, its about helping these young guys grow via the vehicle of football.”
The final score of the opening game was Panthers 41, Dragons 7. The next home game for the Dragons will be against the American School in Japan Oct. 19 at 5:00pm at the Mike Petty Stadium.
| Date Taken: | 08.31.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2018 22:43 |
| Story ID: | 291211 |
| Location: | CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 203 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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