Shaping the future of physical education and sport:

WCU associate professor Kanae Haneishi’s mission of inclusion and wellness

Sports and athletics have always been an important part of Kanae Haneishi’s identity. As a girl growing up in Japan, like any adolescent searching for a sense of self-worth and identity, Kanae gravitated toward what she was good at. Athletics was the place she felt most comfortable and valued.

Her particular talents were most apparent on the soccer field, where Kanae excelled and earned coveted spots on competitive teams. Eventually, she battled through the ranks to earn a place in the top women’s soccer league in Japan. But through it all, she never had a female coach or physical education teacher to look up to. 

It wasn’t until she was 21, when she got a scholarship to play soccer at a college in the United States, that she was able to see what her future could be. “When I came to the U.S., I had many great female leaders in sports,” she said. “So that’s when I realized I could be a leader in physical education and sports and advance to create a more equitable and just environment for all people.”

Now, the Western Colorado University associate professor of exercise and sport science and K-12 physical education has done just that. In just a short time, she’s created diverse physical education and athletic spaces across the Gunnison Valley that are welcoming to everyone. 

So far this year, her work has been recognized with two awards. In July, Haneishi learned that the Society of Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) Colorado had chosen her from a statewide pool of candidates for the University Teacher of the Year Award for 2024. Then, in August, she was selected to receive the 2025 National Association of Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE) Distinguished Teaching Award over candidates from across the country. 

“The NAKHE award is extremely prestigious,” professor and exercise and sport science department chair Gary Van Guilder said. “It’s only given to people who have really dedicated their professional lives to the disciplines of kinesiology and physical education and have a proven record of success in the classroom.”

At Western, she’s an inspiration to her students, many of whom wrote letters to support her nomination for both awards and celebrated when she won. In the classroom, she’s helped build a culture of inclusion, which recognizes that not everyone knows how to or even enjoys throwing a ball or running a race. But everyone can benefit from and enjoy some form of physical activity. “If my students can help their students find even one physical activity that they love, that’s incredibly valuable,” she said. “But I also teach my students that they can’t just become P.E. teachers. They need to be physical activity and wellness experts in the community as well.”

Kanae has made a huge impact on the Gunnison community. She and her students provide physical education programs for local homeschooled groups every semester, teaching them about nutrition and how to move their bodies. She also works with Gunnison Parks and Recreation, coaching three youth soccer teams alongside students who are recruited to work as assistants. 

While those kids, and many local people, live active lives, she sees that many young people, especially those from immigrant families, aren’t getting enough access to physical activities for a variety of reasons. “They’re not signing kids up for rec sports,” Kanae said. “There’s a huge gap. Particularly the female minority students.”

When she arrived in the Gunnison community, there was no soccer team for girls. If girls wanted to play soccer, they either had to play with boys against an all-boys team or travel to Crested Butte. After seeing the lack of access to soccer for girls, she took the initiative to start the first-ever Gunnison girls soccer team. Today, there are three girls teams that compete each season.

Making physical education accessible and inclusive to everyone is the core of Kanae’s mission, but she knows that P.E. is about more than physical activity. It’s a place where students can learn to share space in ways they don’t in other classes, learn to work on a team, and develop interpersonal skills, leadership skills and conflict resolution. “P.E. teachers are not only expected to know pedagogy, skills and tactics,” she said, “but they now are also expected to teach social and personal skills.”

The way Kanae sees it, physical education isn’t intended to find talent or develop athletes who will become professional players. It’s the place for children to learn to be better people, and part of that is knowing the value of a physically active lifestyle and the benefits that can have for their wellbeing.

“We want the future of our society to be mentally, spiritually and physically healthy,” she said. “Kids are faced with so much complexity these days that they need quality education at school beyond the subject they’re learning. Mental health is a serious concern, and we know being physically active leads to better mental health. And if our kids are healthier, then they’ll be better prepared to learn.”