森英昌：播下青少年棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)的種子

文/本刊記者 劉丁睿

“Good job! Run the bases!” “This slide is so awesome!”... On the occasion of the 50thanniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, the 2022 Online Baseball Catch International Exchange Competition was held in Chongqing in August to enhance the sports and cultural exchanges between Chongqing and Japan. This competition was participated by 3 teams from Chongqing, 20 from Japan,and over 10 from other countries. They strengthened mutual understanding through the competition.

“Nowadays, Chongqing is seeing a growing number of teenagers playing baseball. There are not only baseball matches for primary and secondary school students but also more than ten adult teams.” According to Yuan Siping, a baseball enthusiast who organized the Chongqing team in the 2022 Online Baseball Catch International Exchange Competition,the development of baseball among adolescents from a little-known sport to a must be credited to the efforts made by the Japanese baseball coach Hidemasa Mori 14 years ago.

“Nothing is impossible.”

Hidemasa Mori comes from Kumano-cho, Aki-gun, Hiroshima, Japan.And he has been a baseball lover since he was a child. The freedom on the field has given him endless imagination. He firmly believes that “nothing is impossible”.

“好球！快跑壘！”“這個(gè)滑壘太帥了！”……值此中日邦交正常化50周年之際，為增進(jìn)重慶與日本的體育文化交流，2022線上棒球接球國(guó)際交流大賽于8月在渝舉辦。來(lái)自重慶的3支球隊(duì)和日本的20支球隊(duì)，以及10余支海外球隊(duì)參賽。大家通過(guò)比賽交流，增進(jìn)對(duì)彼此的了解。

“如今，在重慶，走上棒球場(chǎng)的青少年越來(lái)越多。不僅有中小學(xué)生棒球比賽，還有10余支成人球隊(duì)。”2022線上棒球接球國(guó)際交流大賽重慶參賽隊(duì)組織者、棒球愛(ài)好者袁思平介紹，重慶青少年棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)從無(wú)人知曉到日漸成熟，離不開(kāi)14年前日本棒球教練森英昌的“播種”和“耕耘”。

“沒(méi)有做不到，只有想不到”

The Chongqing Team in the 2022 Online Baseball Catch International Exchange Competition重慶球隊(duì)參加2022線上棒球接球國(guó)際交流大賽。

森英昌的家鄉(xiāng)在日本廣島縣安藝郡熊野町，他從小喜歡打棒球，球場(chǎng)上的自由，賦予他無(wú)盡想象力，他始終堅(jiān)信“沒(méi)有做不到，只有想不到”。

Hidemasa Mori (Middle) and Chongqing Baseball Players森英昌（中）與重慶棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)員。

In 2008, Hidemasa Mori came to Chongqing to study Chinese at Sichuan Foreign Language Institute (now Sichuan International Studies University). During his study, he came up with the idea of forming baseball teams among youth in Chongqing, where no one played baseball. He hoped that baseball could become a sport that attracts great public followers like table tennis, badminton, and basketball in Chongqing.

At that time, Yuan Siping was a student at Chongqing Baxian High School(now Chongqing Experimental High School). She remembered that Hidemasa Mori tirelessly visited schools to promote baseball including Sichuan Foreign Language Institute, Chongqing University, Chongqing Nankai Secondary School, Chongqing Baxian Middle School, etc., laying a solid foundation for the formation of the team.

Hard work paid off. In February 2009, thanks to the active efforts of the Chongqing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and Hidemasa Mori, Chongqing’s first youth baseball teams were formed in Nankai Secondary School and Baxian Middle School respectively. Before returning to Japan,Hidemasa Mori carefully recommended coaches for the two teams. In September 2009, Hidemasa Mori returned to Chongqing to serve as the baseball coach which had been temporarily vacant at Nankai Secondary School. He also brought some baseball equipment donated by Kumano High School, which addressed the equipment shortage for the team.

On October 13th, 2009, he left Chongqing as his coaching came to an end. Soon after, when he participated in an event of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) in Beijing, he heard that the recruitment for senior volunteers to Chongqing was about to start. “It must be destiny. I decided to become a member of JICA to promote baseball development in Chongqing,” Hidemasa Mori said.

In March 2010, under the JICA Volunteer Program, Hidemasa Mori, as a firstgeneration volunteer, served as the coach of the first batch of youth baseball teams in Chongqing. He devoted himself to training with enthusiasm. He always appeared on the field on time during the weekly training, be it sunny or rainy.

2008年，森英昌來(lái)到重慶，在四川外語(yǔ)學(xué)院（今四川外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)）學(xué)習(xí)中文。留學(xué)期間，他萌生了在“沒(méi)有人打棒球”的重慶組建青少年棒球隊(duì)的想法。他希望棒球在重慶能像乒乓球、羽毛球、籃球一樣，成為大眾喜愛(ài)的、可以盡情享受的運(yùn)動(dòng)。

當(dāng)時(shí)，袁思平就讀于重慶市巴縣中學(xué)（今重慶市實(shí)驗(yàn)中學(xué)）。她記得，為了宣傳棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)，森英昌樂(lè)此不疲地奔走于四川外語(yǔ)學(xué)院、重慶大學(xué)、重慶南開(kāi)中學(xué)、重慶市巴縣中學(xué)等地，為組建球隊(duì)打下了良好的基礎(chǔ)。

功夫不負(fù)有心人。2009年2月，在重慶市人民對(duì)外友好協(xié)會(huì)與森英昌的積極推動(dòng)下，重慶市第一批青少年棒球隊(duì)分別在南開(kāi)中學(xué)和巴縣中學(xué)成立。回國(guó)前，森英昌悉心地為兩支球隊(duì)推薦了教練。2009年9月，棒球教練因故短暫空缺，森英昌又“臨危受命”來(lái)渝擔(dān)任南開(kāi)中學(xué)棒球教練，并帶來(lái)了家鄉(xiāng)日本熊野町熊野高中捐贈(zèng)的一批棒球器材，解決了球隊(duì)器材緊缺的問(wèn)題。

同年10月13日，森英昌結(jié)束執(zhí)教離開(kāi)重慶。不久，他在北京參加JICA（日本國(guó)際協(xié)力機(jī)構(gòu)）活動(dòng)時(shí)，聽(tīng)說(shuō)即將啟動(dòng)派往重慶的高級(jí)志愿者招募，“我感覺(jué)這就是天命、緣分，在內(nèi)心下定決心，那就成為國(guó)際協(xié)力機(jī)構(gòu)的一員，在重慶把棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)搞下去。”森英昌表示。

2010年3月，受JICA志愿者項(xiàng)目的委派，森英昌作為第一代志愿者出任重慶第一批青少年棒球隊(duì)教練。他以飽滿的熱情投入訓(xùn)練指導(dǎo)，不論天晴還是下雨，每周訓(xùn)練時(shí)間他總會(huì)按時(shí)出現(xiàn)在球場(chǎng)上。

“森教練喜歡抱起他的木吉他悠悠地彈唱，這是棒球隊(duì)招新會(huì)上的驚喜，也是訓(xùn)練后緩解疲憊的慰藉。”在袁思平記憶中，她的棒球啟蒙教練森英昌，帶給大家一段辛苦且美好的時(shí)光，“開(kāi)心、安全、禮貌、放松，是森教練傳遞給我們的信念。他常說(shuō)，自己通過(guò)開(kāi)始去做、努力去做，才知道其中的快樂(lè)。”

在森英昌的帶動(dòng)下，通過(guò)周而復(fù)始的訓(xùn)練，隊(duì)員們的球技快速進(jìn)步，棒球打得也有模有樣了。與此同時(shí)，一個(gè)新的想法在森英昌心中萌生—打比賽！他希望借著比賽的契機(jī)擴(kuò)大宣傳，讓更多人知道棒球、喜歡棒球、加入棒球，享受棒球帶來(lái)的無(wú)窮樂(lè)趣。

“Coach Mori liked playing his acoustic guitar and singing softly. This came as a surprise at the baseball team’s recruiting meeting and served as refresher after tiring training.” In Yuan Siping’s memory, Hidemasa Mori, her first baseball coach, delivered everyone a challenging but enjoyable time. She noted, “Happiness, safety, courtesy, and relaxation are the values that Coach Mori passed on to us. He always shared with us that the only way he could have experienced happiness was by getting started and working hard.”

The players’ skills significantly improved thanks to Hidemasa Mori’s instructions and consistent training. At the same time, Hidemasa Mori had a new idea: why not organize baseball matches? He intended to take this opportunity of the match to allow more people know about baseball, like it, play it, and enjoy the endless fun from it.

The First International Baseball Friendly Match, organized by the Chongqing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Consulate-General of Japan in Chongqing, and Kumano-cho Japan-China Friendship Association was held at Chongqing Nankai Secondary School in May 2010 thanks to the initiative and planning by Hidemasa Mori. The members of the Nankai Secondary School baseball team, some international students in Chongqing, and international residents in Chongqing made up two teams for the match, strengthening the interactions between Chinese and Japanese teenagers and boosting baseball’s visibility.

“In my previous life, I was from Chongqing.”

Hidemasa Mori returned to Japan after his coaching, finishing the work as a first-generation volunteer in July 2010. Ryota Kadowaki, a member of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), carried on and coached in Chongqing.Hidemasa Mori maintained contact with his team after going back to Japan. He always missed the time when he lived there and still cared about the development of baseball in Chongqing.

Missing Chongqing, Hidemasa Mori went back to Nankai Secondary School in March 2013 and provided guidance to some of the veteran baseball teams,including “Red Ant” and “Hunter”. “I would like to do more for the thriving of baseball in Chongqing and attract more people to play baseball,” he expressed his hope.

“At present, a variety of matches, such as the Panda Cup Slow Pitch Softball League and the Youth Baseball Championship organized by the Chongqing Baseball Association, are held every year in Chongqing.” Yuan Siping observed that Chongqing baseball has garnered widespread attention as a result of more baseball matches, and that the number of baseball players is expanding.

Hidemasa Mori has witnessed how Chongqing’s youth baseball has grown from strength to strength. The International Baseball Friendly Match initiated by Hidemasa Mori was successfully held in Chongqing Nankai Secondary School for five consecutive sessions, with the theme on “international exchanges through baseball”.

Hidemasa Mori and Principal Tian Xiangping developed a close friendship while he was coaching at Chongqing Nankai Secondary School. Principal Tian recalled Coach Mori’s fondness for Chongqing. “In my previous life,” Hidemasa Mori joked, “I was from Chongqing.”

In July 2014, Hidemasa Mori officially ended his coaching and returned to Japan. “Even though I’ve retired, I still hope to use my strength to promote the exchange of baseball culture between China and Japan.” He expressed that he would visit Chongqing to catch up with former players and friends once the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Photo/Chongqing People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

2010年5月，在森英昌的發(fā)起和策劃下，由重慶市人民對(duì)外友好協(xié)會(huì)與日本駐重慶總領(lǐng)事館、日本熊野町日中友好協(xié)會(huì)主辦的第一屆中外棒球友誼賽在重慶南開(kāi)中學(xué)舉行。由南開(kāi)中學(xué)棒球隊(duì)成員和部分在渝留學(xué)生、在渝外國(guó)人混編為兩個(gè)隊(duì)進(jìn)行比賽，加強(qiáng)了中日青少年之間的交往，同時(shí)擴(kuò)大了棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)的宣傳。

“前世我是重慶人”

2010年7月，森英昌結(jié)束第一代志愿執(zhí)教返回日本，JICA青年海外協(xié)力隊(duì)隊(duì)員門脅亮太接替他赴渝執(zhí)教。回國(guó)后的森英昌與隊(duì)員們保持著聯(lián)系，時(shí)常懷念在重慶生活的日子，仍關(guān)心重慶棒球的發(fā)展。

2013年3月，想念重慶的森英昌回到了南開(kāi)中學(xué)，并參與指導(dǎo)“紅螞蟻”“獵人”等重慶元老級(jí)棒球隊(duì)。他說(shuō)，“希望為重慶棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)發(fā)展‘再添一把火’，吸引更多的人參與到棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)中。”

“目前，重慶每年有市棒壘協(xié)會(huì)組織的熊貓杯慢壘聯(lián)賽、青少年棒球錦標(biāo)賽等比賽，形式多種多樣。”袁思平表示，隨著這些賽事遍地開(kāi)花，重慶棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)受到廣泛關(guān)注，球友圈不斷擴(kuò)大。

森英昌見(jiàn)證了重慶青少年棒球運(yùn)動(dòng)從弱小走向龐大，從幼稚走向成熟。由他倡議發(fā)起的中外棒球友誼賽，以“通過(guò)棒球進(jìn)行國(guó)際交流”為主題，在重慶南開(kāi)中學(xué)連續(xù)成功舉辦了5屆。

在重慶南開(kāi)中學(xué)執(zhí)教期間，森英昌與校長(zhǎng)田祥平結(jié)下了深厚的友誼。田校長(zhǎng)回憶，森教練非常喜歡重慶，他曾開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)“前世我是重慶人”。

2014年7月，森英昌正式結(jié)束執(zhí)教返回日本。“雖然已經(jīng)引退，但我仍希望為中日棒球文化交流貢獻(xiàn)自己的力量。”他表示，待新冠肺炎疫情過(guò)去，會(huì)再來(lái)重慶，見(jiàn)一見(jiàn)老隊(duì)員、老朋友。