Qualification of Instructors to be standardized for Children’s Baseball Teams in Japan

President YAMANAKA Masatake of Baseball Federation of Japan (BFJ) announced at a press conference on November 2, introduction of “Qualified Instructor” System applicable to U-12 baseball teams throughout Japan starting from March, 2021.
Those wishing to become Qualified Instructors need to attend a course comprising studies of good sportsmanship, uprooting physical punishment or harassment, team management and medical knowledge. Registration fee for 4 years costs 10,000 yen (about $100).
Although the new scheme starts on a voluntary basis, BFJ hopes to make a Qualified Instructor for each team mandatory and introduce the system to U-15 in the future and, at the same time, to cope with downtrend of numbers of children.