NEWS

Hosted by the Health and Physical Education Program ICU Students and Faculty Try Their Hand at Shuffleboard, a Sport with Campus Roots

Update: November 9, 2026

On November 3, ICU's Health and Physical Education Program hosted a special event, "Let's Play Shuffleboard! — Experience, Enjoy, and Reflect," on the main court of Gymnasium A. The event brought together 25 participants: 20 students, four faculty members from the program, and one guest instructor.

ICU is believed to have installed Japan's first shuffleboard court on campus sometime between 1954 and 1956. The court is mentioned in the section on the history of the Health and Physical Education Program in The ICU, No. 58 (July 2026), as part of the special feature "Arts for Liberation — Health and Physical Education at the Heart of ICU's Learning — ." The event gave participants a chance to try a sport with ties to ICU's history and reflect on what makes it fun and what it can teach.

In shuffleboard, players use a cue to slide discs toward scoring areas on the court. Part of the fun is working out where to aim and how hard to push, while deciding what shot to play based on where the opponent's discs have come to rest.

After an introduction to the history and rules of shuffleboard, participants practiced sliding the discs and played short games. Students and faculty played side by side, trying different ways to aim and seeing how the discs responded.

In the post-event survey, one participant wrote, "I felt it was special to find a sport that people can play together regardless of age or gender." Another commented, "Trying a recreational sport I'd never played before with people I'd never spoken to was more fun than I expected." During the "Fun Chat Time" that followed, participants talked over tea. Some said they would like to see Japan's first shuffleboard court for themselves and even play a game there. The responses highlighted how memorable it was to try a new sport and get to know people they might not otherwise have met.

The event brought students and faculty together through sport and gave them a hands-on connection to ICU's history. It also offered a chance to discover the fun of refining a shot and trying out a strategy, and to consider how people with different levels of experience and fitness can enjoy playing together.

The Health and Physical Education Program will continue to organize events where members of the ICU community can try different sports and get to know one another.