Members of “Koshien Yume Project” and Keio High School Baseball Club hold a third joint practice session
After three joint practice sessions, there is a deepening bond. It is a bond created between the members of the “Koshien Yume Project” and the members of the Keio Senior High School baseball club. Beginning with an online joint practice session held in January, face-to-face joint practice was held at Keio Hiyoshidai Baseball Stadium in March. Then, on June 18, the Keio Senior High School baseball team members, who welcomed the children of the Dream Project to the same ground again, chased the white ball hard and showed a big smile.
The “Koshien Dream Project” was started to support children with intellectual disabilities so that they can have the opportunity to challenge Koshien. Since its inauguration in March 2021, it has held joint practice sessions online and face-to-face, counting the 12th practice session on the 18th. Director Takahiko Hayashi of the Keio High School baseball club, who learned about the activities through the people involved, sympathized with the thoughts of Mr. Koji Kubota, the chief teacher of the Tokyo Metropolitan Seicho Special Education School, which is the center of the project. Partly due to the influence of Korona-ka, we first held an online joint practice session to deepen mutual understanding.
In March, a long-awaited face-to-face joint practice session was realized. At this time, the Keio High School baseball club is centered on the members of the current third graders and interacts with the members of the dream project. We practiced catching balls, knocking, and playing games. The members of the Dream Project were greatly inspired by the joint practice with the strong baseball club, which also has experience in Koshien, but it seems that the opposite was also true. Forest director says:
“Some of the members of the Dream Project have no choice but to practice alone even if they like baseball. It seems that Keio members have realized that it is not natural to be able to play baseball because of the Korona-ka. You can’t do it without the three “pauses” of time, space, and friends. He said that it was an experience that always thanked me for playing baseball. ”
Twenty-four people from the Dream Project and second-year students from the Keio High School baseball club participated in this joint practice session. First, we made a pair of practice partners, one for each, and worked on warming up and catching. Most of the practice partners meet for the first time. Some of the members of the dream project were not good at talking, but the baseball team members actively talked to each other, listened to them, and gently escorted them with their hands. I was planning.
When the members of the dream project received advice on how to throw the ball well and how to catch it, they tried hard to express it with their bodies. The members who can’t help playing baseball, whether they can do it well or not, naturally say “Nice catch!” And “It’s good now!” To the baseball team members. I was full of smiles.
