Yomiuri Giants women's team visits Nicaragua

The women's team of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Yomiuri Giants travelled to Nicaragua as part of the club's 90th anniversary project. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) supports the initiative.

It's the first time an NPB women's team does activity abroad.

"Women's baseball aims to become a professional sport," manager Miyamoto Kazutomo commented. "I want the players to watch, learn, and communicate the situation of women's baseball worldwide."

The Giants held a clinic for 36 elementary school students. Madonna Japan veterans Miyu Shimizu and Miwa Tanaka communicated with the students in Spanish.

Estefany, one of the students, commented: "It was so much fun. I want to play baseball to join the National Team and compete against the Giants."

The Giants attended a reception hosted by Japan's ambassador to Nicaragua, Kazuto Nakamura, who announced his intention to advocate women's baseball in Nicaragua.

The Giants' delegation leader Morita Satoshi quoted Nicaragua's famed poet Rubén Dario (1867-1916): "Aspire to it, long for it, and grow upwards."

The Giants outscored the Nicaraguan National Team in a friendly match.

Cover photo courtesy of the Yomiuri Giants