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Published on Tuesday, 17 July 2012 04:23

Written by Gareth Hooton

Five budding young New Zealand baseball players will travel to Kumano, a town in the Mie prefecture of Japan, from July 22-30 to participate in the 2012 World Children's Baseball Fair (WCBF).

10 and 11 year olds players, Ethan Moore (Northland), Ryan Singe (Orewa), Yuuki Takahashi (North Shore), Joss Elliot (Central City), and Sophie Hollings (Bayside), alongside their coach/chaperone Mark Greenslade (North Shore), will spend nine days receiving instruction on the correct basic skills of baseball instructed by coaches selected by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), and getting to know each other, and fostering international friendships.

Selected on the recommendation of each club throughout the country, each participant went through an application process including writing an essay about baseball, why they wanted to go on the trip, and something about the areas they will be travelling to, with the five finalists chosen by the New Zealand WCBF selection committee.

As well as learning the basics of baseball by the international coaches, the players will also partake in cultural and recreational activities such as learning Japanese dancing, martial arts, bare-hand fishing and other unique opportunities with local children. International exchange games and instructional baseball seminars for coaches are also conducted.

Two of the world's home-run kings, Japan's Sadaharu Oh and America's Hank Aaron created the World Children's Baseball Fair with the aim of expanding the great sport of baseball throughout the world, helping children to learn the game, and promote friendship among children, helping to create a borderless world.

The New Zealanders will join other children from Canada, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Czech, Fiji, France, India, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Taiwan, U.S.A, Venezuela, and Japan during their nine day experience at the Fair.

One of the objectives of the Fair this year is to encourage the local people of Mie, Nara, and Wakayama prefectures, which were devastated by the tsunami that hit last year. The towns of Kumano, Shimokitayama and Shingu will host the clinics, exchange events, and international exchange games.

The first World Children's Baseball Fair was held in Los Angeles in the summer of 1990. Since then, the fair has been held annually in Japan, the USA, or Canada.  Over 200 boys and girls from more than fifteen nations and/or regions of the world are invited to each fair.

The WCBF promotes baseball as an important means of bringing up healthy young people and introduces them to one of the best possible ways of using their leisure.

 

For more information on the fair visit the official World Children's Baseball Foundation website