High School Coach Suspended Two Months For Entering Two Incoming Students in Race Before Start of School Year

On Apr. 13 it was learned that the Nagasaki Track and Field Association has suspended a male coach in his 40s at a high school in Nagasaki for entering two incoming junior high school student runners as high school first-years at a track meet in late March. Calling the coach's actions inappropriate, the NTFA suspended him for two months.

According to the NTFA and other sources, the time trial meet took place in Omuta, Fukuoka on Mar. 26 and 27 this year. The two third-year junior high school student runners, who were set to join the high school team at the start of the new school year on Apr. 1, ran in the 1500 m. "I thought it would be OK to enter them as new students," the coach said. "My mistake."

On Apr. 6 the JAAF received complaints that the rules had been broken, leading to the NTFA investigating what had happened. A spokesperson for the NTFA commented, "The athletes were negatively impacted by the coach's lack of awareness. Because he showed inadequate attention to following the rules we had to judge the case strictly."

source article:

https://www.nikkansports.com/general/news/202204130000333.html?mode=all

translated by Brett Larner