Japanese softball stars Reika Utsugi, Yukiko Ueno, Yu Yamamoto, Urara Fujimoto and Aiko Nakamura conducted a three-day coaching clinic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 42 participants from five Asian countries and regions. The course, jointly organised by Softball Asia and the Japanese Softball Association, took place from 22 to 24 January.
Softball Asia President and WBSC Secretary General Beng Choo Low welcomed everyone to the course and thanked the instructors for sharing their knowledge and experience with the attendees. “I hope this clinic will see the coaches return with new ideas and methods to help raise the overall standard of the game in Asia by coaching their respective teams,” she said. “This is very valuable clinic because we had the best of the game and vastly experienced coaches and players, to share their experience and show us the way forward to improve the overall standard of the game in Asia.”
Utsugi, head coach of the Japanese National Team, managed Ueno and Yamamoto in the Tokyo 2020 gold-medal winning Japanese team.
The course included a day of classroom sessions (with subjects such as the role of a coach; athlete preparation; pitching, batting, catching and fielding) and two days of practical sessions at the Bukit Jalil National Sports Council field.
Athletes and coaches from Hong Kong, China; Malaysia; Philippines; Singapore and Chinese Taipei improved their coaching and skills in all aspects of the game like pitching, batting, catching and fielding.
This course, the first Softball Asia learning activity of the year, will be followed by a WBSC / Softball Asia Coaching Certification Seminar next month. The Level 1 - Level 2 certification seminar will take place from 17 to 20 February in Pattaya, Thailand.
This will be the second Level 1 - Level 2 Coaching Certification Seminar jointly held by WBSC and Softball Asia. The first one was between 11 and 14 January 2020 in Penang, Malaysia.
