Japanese Olympians give
European softball masterclasses
Year Nine pupil – ‘I would love to be in the Olympics in 2016, I just have to keep training and trying to get better.’
Plant City, Florida (USA); April 30th 2009: The BackSoftball campaign’s plan to reach out to young people around the world has been boosted recently by visits to schoolchildren in the UK and Holland by former Japanese Olympic team coach Taeko Utsugi.
International Softball Federation Hall of Fame inductee (2005) Ms. Utsugi was first joined by Olympic pitcher Juri Takayama at Fakenham High School in Norfolk, UK to give softball masterclasses to 20 pupils.
This was followed more recently by a similar session with 200 schoolchildren at the Japanese School of Amsterdam where Ms. Utsugi was joined by new Netherlands national team Head Coach Craig Montvidas and 2008 Olympians Rebecca Soumeru (pitcher) and Saskia Kosterink (outfielder), the latter a BackSoftball Athlete Ambassador.
These visits are the latest examples of the increasing popularity of softball around the world, with new national federations being recognized by the ISF and large numbers of young people taking up the sport every month, attracted by its simple rules and accessibility.
Following the visit to Fakenham, Ms. Utsugi said, “The reason to come here was to bring the dreams of the children of Japan, who all want to play softball in the Olympics in 2016. I didn't expect the kids to be so excited. I was impressed that even though there was a language barrier they understood what I meant. I want to make Fakenham a softball city - if one school starts doing it, others will start to copy it and it will have a major impact. I would be overjoyed if I could see an Olympian from this school.”
Softball is extremely popular in Japan, who won the women’s fast pitch Olympic tournament in Beijing last summer, registering record broadcasting figures for the NHK network for the gold medal game against the USA at Fengtai Softball Field.
ISF President Don Porter said, “Softball is an international sport and initiatives like this further underline the growing popularity and enthusiasm young people have for the sport around the world.
“Softball enjoyed an incredibly successful Olympic Games in Beijing last year and proved without doubt that it adds great value to the Olympic Games Programme. I hope that we can convince the IOC members that our coaches and athletes are committed to promoting softball and the Olympic values that it adheres to.”
In Fakenham, Ms. Utsugi drilled the children in catching and fielding techniques before three-time Olympic pitcher (1996, 2000, 2004) Juri Takayama showed off her skills with an array of fast deliveries that wowed the audience.
Mark House, Fakenham High School Head of PE, said, “The governing body described Taeko Utsugi as the mother of the game and you don't get much better than that. The kids are really excited. One of the reasons we have worked so hard on softball is because it has a girls' focus, so this will also raise the profile of girls' sport in our school.”
Year Nine pupil Gemma Craine has already represented the British team at a European tournament in Prague and said, “It is not every day you get this, and the school is really proud to have someone so famous to come and teach us the sport and help to keep it going. I would love to be in the Olympics in 2016, I just have to keep training and trying to get better.”
The softball classes were filmed for a ‘Bring back softball to Olympics 2016’ television show on BS-i, a Japanese subscription channel with 30 million viewers.
Utsugi and Takayama have also done a session with players from the GB Women's Team and GB Junior Team in London while Ms. Utsugi also conducted a two-day training course in Banjul, Gambia, organized by the Gambia Softball Association.
Taeko Utsugi has more than 20 years experience in coaching. She was the Assistant Coach of the Japanese National Team during the Olympic Games of 1996 in Atlanta (USA) and also was a member of the coaching staff of the national junior squad during three ISF junior women’s world championships (19-and-under).
As head coach she led the team to a bronze medal finish at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. She also led the team during three ISF women’s world championships and three Asian Games.
Softball was first featured in the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 and last year’s competition in Beijing was hugely successful with a total attendance close to 180,000 and a continuation of the sport’s excellent record of no positive doping tests in women’s international softball since testing began in 1982.
A final decision on which sports will be added to the current roster of 26 at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games will be made at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen in October this year.
Further information is available in the OTHER DOCUMENTS section of www.BackSoftball.com.
For more information please contact ISF Director of Communications Bruce Wawrzyniak at brucew@internationalsoftball.com, +1 813 864 0100 or +1 813 453 8762 or David Alexander at David.Alexander@Calacus.com or +44 7802 412424