Paralympics: Japan's para ice hockey team faces budget, aging headaches

With little luck attracting funding and new players to the sport, the Japanese para ice hockey team has been facing challenges away from the arena despite the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympics getting ever nearer.Successful efforts to enhance the recognition of para sports ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games have led to increased sponsorship deals, but next March's Winter Paralympics have yet to move out of the shadows of their summer counterpart.The Japan men's ice hockey team will be making its first Paralympics appearance since 2010, but Masaharu Kumagai, who plays for the Nagano Thunderbird…READ FULL ARTICLE