There are children who hesitate to start baseball or find it difficult to continue for financial reasons. Gloves, spikes, uniforms. Baseball requires a lot of equipment, and tends to be more expensive than other sports. Efforts to reduce the financial burden are spreading in the field.
◇
◆The uniform and belt alone cost more than 10,000 yen
Piras Academy players practice in team T-shirts and shorts. Some children participate in the practice in their own clothes (Takatsu Ward, Kawasaki City)
Pyras Academy was founded five years ago and is based in Takatsu Ward, Kawasaki City. This youth baseball team does not have uniforms. The children wear team T-shirts and shorts. Some even chase the white ball in their own clothes. Spikes are optional. With the consent of the opposing team, they dress like this during games. As practice is generally once a week, there is no need to purchase multiple team T-shirts, which cost around 3,000 yen each.
Representative Takuya Kobayashi (30), who went to college in the United States and played on the local baseball team, explains, “In the United States, practice in shorts is the norm, but you can still play baseball. If you buy matching uniforms and belts, it will cost more than 10,000 yen.” He also rents out gloves provided by an equipment manufacturer run by an acquaintance.
Pyras Academy players practicing batting
◆ The financial burden is heavy even among popular sports
According to a 2019 survey by toy giant Bandai targeting parents of elementary and junior high school students, the average annual cost of playing baseball was 74,931 yen. This was the highest among the top five most popular sports, including soccer, tennis, swimming, and dance (including cheerleading), beating the second-placed soccer by more than 18,000 yen. Furthermore, the price of baseball equipment has risen further in recent years due to rising prices and improved functionality. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ Retail Price Statistics Survey, the national average price of an adult softball glove (mid-range) in April this year was 14,984 yen, 1.4 times higher than nine years ago.
Kobayashi pointed out that “the need to buy equipment is also a reason why people are moving away from baseball.” He said he receives many inquiries from parents asking questions such as “Should I buy a glove?” and emphasized, “Anyway, I want to lower the hurdle for starting baseball.”
◇
◆ “Tea duty” abolished… Searches continue to be conducted to reduce the burden
Players from the Enjoy Baseball Kasukabe Boys and Girls Softball Club practice batting. The club also lends out bats and gloves to children who have just joined the club.
The “Enjoy Baseball Kasukabe Boys and Girls Softball Club” (Kasukabe City, Saitama Prefecture), which was launched in 2021, also lends bats and gloves to players who have just joined the club. In addition, the club offers discounts on club activity fees if siblings join the club, and is working to reduce the burden on parents by taking turns attending practice and games, and abolishing the “tea duty” of serving tea.
The baseball world is on fire thanks to the success of the Japanese national baseball team and Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers) in the US major leagues, but the club’s general manager Yoshiyuki Yatabe (54) calmly observes the current situation, saying, “The number of kids who are interested may have increased, but there hasn’t been a big impact in terms of an increase in the number of people joining the team. There is a hurdle somewhere that people have to overcome in order to take the first step.” On-site efforts are continuing to explore ways to remove the barriers to starting baseball. (Shohei Sakai)
◇
As the number of baseball players declines, we explore the future of Japanese baseball through the challenges it faces and the people involved.Will be posted from time to time.
2024-07-05 03:32:08
#Baseball #expensive #continue.. #uniforms #casual #clothes #efforts #youth #team #Tokyo #Shimbun #TOKYO #Web
