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Matsui, Global Citizens Initiative Host Inaugural Golf Classic

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The first ever Champion A Champion Golf Classic was held at Tamarack Country Club on Monday (contributed photo).

By Richard Kaufman 

What does it take to become a champion? Hideki Matsui, New York Yankees legend and 2009 World Series MVP, knows better than anybody.

That’s why Global Citizens Initiative has partnered with Matsui and his Matsui 55 Foundation, a nonprofit organization which encourages healthy and active lifestyles through the game of baseball. Global Citizens Intitiative is a Greenwich-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational enterprise that aims to empower young global citizens from all sectors of society to be lifelong leaders of positive change and champions in their own right. 

Together, they have created a joint endeavor, Champion A Champion, which shares a common vision to foster critical thinking, collaboration and teamwork.

On Monday, at Tamarack Country Club, the two organizations held their first joint event: the inaugural Champion A Champion Golf Classic.

GCI founder, Yumi Kuwana (left), and Yankees legend, Hideki Matsui, at Monday’s Champion A Champion Golf Classic (contributed photo).

The day featured a buffet lunch, golf, cocktail reception, dinner and an auction. Attendees bid on various items, such as a signed Yogi Berra replica bat, a signed Matsui Yankees jersey, and a signed photo of current Yankees star, Aaron Judge, to name a few.

All proceeds from the event go towards funding scholarships in both organizations, as well as other needs like equipment for the Matsui 55 Foundation, and to help supplement the GCI’s annual retreat which takes place in Boston, in late July.

“We want to provide that support: scholarships and baseball equipment, regardless of whoever it is and where they are, to any league, any association that we feel they would benefit from,” said Matsui through his interpreter. 

“It’s been wonderful,” said GCI founder, Yumi Kuwana, about the Champion A Champion endeavor with Matsui. “We both really truly believe in empowering our next generation of global citizens; him through identifying passions through sports and baseball, and ours through education and service projects. It’s been a really great collaboration.”

Matsui became a national hero in Japan, playing 10 seasons for the Yomiuri Giants, the country’s most storied franchise. He came over to the U.S. prior to the 2003 season and spent seven years with the Yankees, and one year each with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays before retiring in 2013 as a member of the Yankees.

Over his MLB career, Matsui hit .282 with 175 homers and 760 RBI in 1,236 games played. Matsui was selected to two all-star teams, and was named the 2009 World Series MVP after winning the championship with New York.

Matsui said the phrase “Champion A Champion” can mean a lot of things. But mostly, it’s about the process and what it takes to reach the mountaintop, in any arena in life.

“The things that are involved in becoming a champion–the daily work, the work ethic–all these things combine in a harmonic way to build that path and the road towards becoming a champion, whatever endeavor that is,” he said.

Through his foundation, Matsui said he wants to share the game of baseball and help young people understand what it’s about.

“It’s not an individual sport; it’s a team sport. So, I also want them to understand that you don’t have to be a superstar to win. You just have to learn and know what to do to contribute and be a part of the team to help everyone become a champion,” he said. 

Having been born in the United States and raised in Japan, Kuwana said she didn’t speak Japanese well enough to fit in with everyone else. Because of this, she said she was bullied and ultimately had to transfer schools.

With that experience in mind, she vowed to make sure her children could be successful in both countries, speak both languages and be culturally sensitive.

Kuwana wanted to extend this message on a broader scale, and so she established the GCI in 2012 in order to engage, educate and empower the next generation of global citizens from all sectors of society.

To put all of these thoughts and ideas into action, the one-year program begins when 28 students, who are selected from around the globe, come together to attend a nine-day mentorship summit at the end of July, held at Kuwana’s alma mater, Harvard University. At this summit, students launch their own service projects in order to give back to their community.

Joe Bridges, a student-ambassador to GCI who attended the summit last year, said it was very impactful on his life.

“It’s really allowed me to meet people from all over the world, and to make some really close peer connections with people I would never meet before,” he said, noting that his roommate at the summit last year was from Kenya and that they still keep in touch. “I’d say that’s been the biggest impact on me personally.”

Hideki Matsui tees-off on Monday at Tamarack (contributed photo).

With smiles all around on a warm, spring day, it’s safe to say the first Champion A Champion Golf Classic was a success.

Although when asked how his golf game was looking, Matsui laughed.

“Bad!” he said. “For me, golf is like baseball. The foul ground is a 90 degree angle, so for me, golf also has a 90 degree angle.”

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