Schedule revealed for the 24th World Children’s Baseball Fair in Japan in July/August

155 Children from 15 Countries/Regions Invited to Ehime

On June 9, 2014, Sadaharu Oh, 74, Chairman of the World Children's Baseball Foundation (WCBF) and former Tokyo Yomiuri Giants great who slugged 868 carrier home runs, in announcing the 24th WCBF in Ehime Prefecture from July 30 to August 7, expressed his desire for children to fully enjoy the Fair to be held for the first time in Shikoku island. He also referred to Cuban slugger Frederich Cepeda (34) who is playing with Yomiuri Giants was a participant to the 2nd WCBF Fair in Chiba.

Commissioner Katsuhiko Kumazaki of Nippon Professional Baseball highly valued this event particularly because global development of the sport helps reinstate the baseball and softball to 2020 Olympics.

For the first time in WCBF's history, Children from Mozambique are invited to join Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Spain, U.S.A. and the host Japan.

The girls and boys 10-11 years old will learn from nine IBAF veteran coaches to play baseball and participate in cultural and other sport events to create goodwill and friendship.

Children's baseball teams from Chinese Taipei and Korea will play friendly games with 12 teams in Ehime Prefecture.

The nine IBAF nominated coaches are: Angel Bonilla (Head Coach､U.S.A.), Yoshihisa Uchikawa (Subhead Coach､Japan), Edgar Perez (Puerto Rico), Ila Borders (U.S.A.), Darwin Barker (Canada), Martijn Nihoff (Netherlands), Daishin Nakamura (Japan) and Kenji Sugawara (Japan).

The WCBF inaugural event was held in Los Angeles in 1990, and over 5000 participants - boys and girls of 10 and 11 years old - from 92 countries/regions (including Mozambique), have attended this global event.