[Yokohama Excellence] Contract Renewal Announcement: Head Coach Ryuji Kawai for 2026-27 Season

Thank you for your continued support of Yokohama Excellence.

We are pleased to announce that Yokohama Excellence has decided to renew the contract with Head Coach Ryuji Kawai for the 2026-27 season.

Ryuji Kawai
Date of Birth: July 16, 1975
Place of Birth: Aichi Prefecture
Coaching Career:
1999-2007: Assistant Coach, OSG Phoenix
2007-08: Assistant Coach, OSG Phoenix Higashimikawa
2008-09: Assistant Coach, Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix
2009-11: Team Director, Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix
2011-Mar 2013: Head Coach, Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix
2013-15: Head Coach, Shinshu Brave Warriors
2015-Jan 2016: Assistant Coach, Shinshu Brave Warriors
2016: Head Coach, Oita Ehime Heat Devils
2016-17: Head Coach, Ehime Orange Vikings
2017-Oct 2018: Head Coach, Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka
2019: Head Coach, Yamagata Wyverns
Jan 2020-22: Assistant Coach/Acting Head Coach, Shimane Susanoo Magic
Oct 2022-23: Acting Head Coach/Assistant Coach, Niigata Albirex BB
2024-Present: Head Coach, Yokohama Excellence

Comments

Head Coach Ryuji Kawai:
I would like to thank Owner Kuwabara, President Sakurai, and GM Ishida for trusting me as Head Coach for the 2026-27 season. I am delighted to continue fighting alongside all the EXs through the B3 season (2024-25), the B2 season (2025-26), and now the upcoming B.LEAGUE ONE season. I will continue to pursue the 'EXCELLENCE Style' with our players so that everyone who supports us will feel proud to have done so. I hope the EXs will continue to foster that clean and passionate unity at Yokohama Budokan. Let's make this new season a B.LEAGUE innovation with EXCELLENCE and EXs! Let's blow a green wind through the B.LEAGUE!

General Manager Takeki Ishida:
Ryuji Kawai will continue to lead the team for the 2026-27 season, marking his third year. Throughout these two seasons, he has continuously helped the team grow and has successfully established the 'Yokohama Excellence Style.' I believe the daily efforts we have built up led to our 3rd-place finish in our first year of B2 promotion. Kawai HC is excellent at bringing out the strengths of our players and the club, finding winning paths, and his tactics and values have permeated the team year by year, leading to higher understanding and intensity among the players. I believe that by sharpening our style and increasing its precision, we will solidify it as a club culture and move closer to achieving our goals. Next season, we will face even greater challenges in the new B.LEAGUE ONE. However, we will overcome them as one club, and I will continue to provide maximum support as GM. We look forward to your continued support of Yokohama Excellence under Coach Kawai.