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Descent Dube, Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe national baseball team coach Washington Nyika said the squad drew some inspiration from Japanese coaches in their preparation for the All Africa Games.

The Japanese mentors conducted a week-long training session at Hamilton High School for the national squad ahead of the continental Games set for South Africa in April this year.

The three coaches led by Naohiko Tsutsumicame were in the country to assist the national baseball team prepare for the Games in South Africa and the team hopes to also qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Baseball Olympic Games in Japan.

“We’re grateful to the Japanese coaches who have supported us throughout the training session.

“The spirit in the camp was high and the players got a lot of inspiration from the coaches who’re coming from a country that has a good reputation in baseball,” said Nyika

Tsutsumi first came to Zimbabwe in 1997 to promote and develop baseball in primary schools but left in 2007 due to economic challenges.

Japan has been supporting the national baseball team for quite some time now. A couple of months back, the president of the Zimbabwean Baseball Association (ZBA), Morris Banda, visited Japan to seek assistance.

“Our target is to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and in order to achieve that, some of our players went to Japan to gain experience and tactical skills.

“We’re trying our best to ensure Zimbabwe becomes a force to be reckoned with on the international arena,” Nyika said.

He said all players attended the session and the coaches imparted various skills that will assist the team in future competitions.

Zimbabwe will have to top a group that consists of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia to proceed to the next stage and inch closer to Tokyo 2020.

Nyika has appealed to the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation to assist the team whose players he said had the potential to becomes the country’s great ambassadors.

– @DecoDecent2