SWABI: Kazuya Yagi, a qualified baseball coach from Japan, said here on Thursday that there is a bright future of the game in the country and once the youngsters become familiar with it it would spread to every nook and corner of Pakistan.

Speaking to a gathering at the Yar Hussain Academy of baseball where Kazuya visited along with Pakistan Federation Baseball (PFB) officials to teach different techniques of the game to the local youngsters, he encouraged the officials concerned to continue their efforts with complete determination.

The Yar Hussain Academy is the only one for baseball players here across the district which was established with the assistance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Baseball Federation.

The gathering was also attended by PFB president Fakhar Ali Shah, Haseeb Mohammad, executive director, Dr Shaheen Gulzar, director Youth Baseball Develo­pment, Tariq Nadeem, international baseball player, and Mohammad Qasim Hamid, vice-captain of Pakistan’s youth baseball team.

The visitors also watched a baseball match and lauded the imparting of vital knowledge of the game and training of baseball to the locals at the academy. They admitted that the game is not yet fully introduced in all districts of the province.

Kazuya said that looking to the enthusiasm of the youngsters in the game there is no dearth of talent in Pakistan and the youngsters only need proper training and coaching to reach new peaks in the baseball. “They [Pakistani youth] just need adequate training, facilities and coaching. Once they got these facilities they could deliver,” he said.

Kazuya said he would visit the academy in future along with the baseball Japanese scouts, saying that just for encouraging the local players and helping them to excel in the game which is very popular across the globe.

Answering a question, he said that the players of the academy need about three months perfect training and coaching.

He showed great interest in helping them to get perfect training and coaching. He also shed light on the importance of the game and future of the players.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2020