#005 This time, I will introduce the Tsuno town soccer team aiming to join the J.League, Veros Chronos Tsuno. Veros, currently based in Tsunocho, Koyu District, Miyazaki Prefecture, plays in the Kyushu Soccer League and is striving to join the J.League. In this post, I will touch on Veros’s details, history, initiatives, and one player I worked with. ◆Details about Veros The hometown is Tsunocho and the home stadium is Tsunocho Fujimi Park Athletic Stadium, where the team trains daily toward its goals. The club color is asagi (light blue-green), and the operating corporation is J.FC Miyazaki Co., Ltd., founded in 2014. ◆History of Veros In 2019, J.FC MIYAZAKI (the former team of Veros) and the general incorporated association Tsuno Sports Commission of Tsunocho signed an agreement on the Tsuno vocational training project. The following year they moved the hometown from Miyazaki City to Tsunocho and adopted the current asagi club color. The next year the club name changed to Veros Chronos Tsuno, and the team logo and emblem were revamped. Veros’s history as a name is short, but the team actually has a much longer background. I will abbreviate that history here. By the way, the name Veros Chronos Tsuno comes from combining the Greek word for “arrow,” veros, referring to Yatake Falls in Tsunocho, and Chronos, the Greek mythological god of agriculture. ◆Recent Veros I started working at the Tsuno Town Tourism Association in April last year, and since then I learned about Veros, worked with them, and began supporting the team. Many Veros players balance being professional footballers and company employees. The root of this is the regional revitalization cooperation program. The program brings people from urban areas to depopulated or disadvantaged regions to live and carry out community revitalization activities. Veros adopts this system: players devote their mornings to soccer and work at various places in the afternoons. Employers include local farmers, companies, and organizations in Tsunocho, grouped as digital teams or agricultural teams. Last year, one player was assigned to the tourism association as a cooperation squad member for a year. Veros’s youth teams are also attracting attention. As part of the general incorporated association Tsuno Sports Academy’s efforts, they run a unique, community-engaged project to nurture young people from childhood through youth in sport, daily life, education, vocational training, and local engagement. Before being athletes, these young people grow into good members of society, serve as role models for the community, and lead regional development—this kind of human resource development may be unique to this town. Frankly, if I imagined myself as a professional athlete, I would find it hard to accept working another job while still a pro; I might wonder why I had to do it. Because of that doubt, I asked players about it. ◆A player who was seconded to the tourism association as a cooperation squad member said “Certainly, some players question doing farming or working with computers while being professionals. Some players are dissatisfied with the team’s methods and policies. Still, this characteristic is rare among other teams, and for those of us without social experience, it’s a valuable opportunity. It’s rewarding, and it has changed how I think about everyday life. Joining this tourism association made me feel that, being of an age called a veteran, I must set an example for the team, and the results here strengthen ties with local residents. When I consider life after retirement, some will enter society or stay involved with soccer. In society, past athletic experience hardly carries weight. That’s why joining Veros prompted me to think about life after retirement and who I will be when I re-enter society. I want to say this: these experiences become a wonderful asset in life. There will come a time when you think, ‘It was because of that experience,’ or ‘Because I was at Veros.’ Young players might not understand now, but by working hard where you are, you earn recognition from teammates, coaches, staff, and, more broadly, local residents. That recognition will bring support not just for you but for the team. Because it’s a small town, working together and helping each other makes the team rooted in the community and able to aim higher.” He told me this. He now lives in Kanagawa Prefecture and works as a secretary to a local assembly member. That was surprising, but it’s undoubtedly the result of what he built for himself. Next, I will talk about what I felt during the year I worked with him. When I joined the tourism association in April 2024, he had been dispatched about two months earlier as the association’s first cooperation squad member. My first impression was that he looked flashy, but we quickly became close and often acted together. At the summer festival, under the blazing sun, our team carried the mikoshi shrine float. We traveled together on business to the sister city Saroma in Hokkaido and to the sister city Itoman in Okinawa Prefecture, where he was in charge of grilling local jidori chicken over charcoal at events. Looking back, he was a hard worker. The event we worked hardest on together was one of Tsunocho’s famous festivals, the Industry Festival. We arranged stalls and food trucks, scoped venues, and took on new challenges together. I may have seen him more as a respected senior colleague at work than merely as a soccer player. He rarely acted like a footballer while working. Then, at the end of 2024, he retired from soccer, left the cooperation squad, and became a secretary to an assembly member. It is common for retired professional athletes to stay in sports as managers, coaches, sports directors, or move into team management. I was amazed that he became a secretary to an assembly member after retirement. No wonder it was covered in online news. Working with someone like him from my first year as a professional was a valuable experience for me too. I write this because I believe Veros Chronos’s initiatives have real meaning. These efforts greatly influence players’ careers after retirement. Some players fell in love with Tsunocho after joining Veros and chose to live here after retirement. By not only cheering the team but cooperating with local residents, I am convinced that both Tsunocho and Veros will develop together. This year, they dominated the league with five wins and one loss, and in the Emperor’s Cup they beat J3’s Gainare Tottori, setting up a second-round match against J1 Nagoya Grampus on June 11. I hope for a giant-killing upset. I will continue to watch Veros Chronos Tsuno’s progress!!