Well, I grew up without studying properly since elementary school and only played soccer, so this Nigerian baseball business... it took a tremendous amount of time and energy...
Well, I couldn't come up with any ideas (laughs).
However, during my journey to find examples of failures in promoting baseball in Africa, one word popped out at me:
Suddenly, the world opened up before my eyes. I was just like Moses!
Burkina Faso is known as one of the poorest countries in Africa.
I went to Hokkaido to interview someone who has been promoting and supporting baseball in Burkina Faso for decades. It's huge! Hokkaido is too big! I drove four hours from the airport to meet him.
As expected, he has been active for decades, so he told me about many failures. He is a very generous person.
As we talked and sorted out what we had, it became clear that the keyword "money" was a common issue for everyone, including the activist groups and local people.
I wondered if there were any other issues besides money when it comes to baseball practice, so I asked the question.
What is the problem with baseball practice?
The answer is
"The equipment... bats, balls, and gloves are all second-hand donations. It's rare to find a glove that can actually catch a ball... Most of the time, the only gloves donated are those that are too damaged to catch the ball, so we can't practice properly..."
Indeed, the gloves of the Nigerian children playing baseball were worn out.
There were few children who could play catch properly, and many of them did not even have gloves. It occurred to me that the problem was not that they lacked the technique to catch the ball, but that the glove itself was the problem... (´；ω；`) Uuuu
And then,
"Why not make gloves in Nigeria!!!"
That's easy to say, but it takes a lot of money and planning to do it.
My heart is dancing, but I can't say "That's great! Let's do it!" right then and there...
First of all, how many people in Nigeria, where the average monthly salary is 20,000 yen, can afford to buy expensive gloves? (ﾟДﾟ) Probably none... I thought this calmly at the time, and wasn't really enthusiastic about the idea.
After the interview, we headed home.
I drove my car absentmindedly, enjoying the tranquil scenery of nature.
While stopping to rest at a roadside station along the way, I noticed that I had a message on my cell phone.
The person who contacted me was the director of a Shizuoka Prefecture-based NGO that provides support to children who want to continue playing baseball but are forced to give up for financial reasons.
"Thanks to your sponsorship again this year, dozens of children were able to continue playing baseball ~♪(^_-)-☆♪"
In addition to promoting baseball in Africa, our company has also sponsored support for children in Japan who have had to give up baseball for economic reasons.
So, finally, it happened! The dots connected and an idea struck me!!
1. Save even one child from having to give up baseball for financial reasons!
2. Create new industries and jobs in Nigeria through baseball!
The intersection of these two pieces is the "Globe"!! ⚾
Not only in Japan, but all over the world, the price of gloves continues to rise, and for youth baseball gloves,
The average price is 35,000 yen, and for high school baseball it is 70,000 yen, which is very expensive... (´；ω；`) Uuuu
So many kids quit baseball because they can't afford it. But some of them might have become professional baseball players if they had continued.
It's kind of sad that a child's dreams are being taken away for adult reasons... but then again, gloves are so expensive, so I can understand the adult reasons...
I also have three sons, and the two oldest play baseball. My oldest son was leading until the final two in the Koshien qualifying tournament, when he couldn't get the last out and lost in a walk-off... It was disappointing, but what's more, if you go to a strong school, you have to live in a boarding school, and on top of the boarding fees, there's equipment fees, travel expenses... it costs about 200,000 yen a month... (-.-)y-゜゜゜
My second son also went to a strong school, so he went to a boarding school...
I've experienced the pain of this expense, so I understand why adults would make them give up... It's an investment with no guarantee that they'll be able to become a professional baseball player in the future, after all.
Back to the point, I understand the feelings of adults and children like this, so I bought these damn expensive gloves.
If we could provide it at a very reasonable price and with high quality, we could provide it to children all over the world who want to continue playing baseball!
This means that we need to keep our costs down to a level that can be offered to children in Nigeria who want to play baseball.
So, what was the Nigerian baseball business going to do? That problem has now been put to rest!!
in????
How do I make gloves? Do I make them? Who makes them?
It's all image-driven, and there's no concreteness to it (laughs).
Well, that's fine! We've decided what to do, so now we just need to make it more concrete.
For now, I thought it would be ok to send the items to the major manufacturers for confirmation!
Okay, okay… It wasn’t going to go so smoothly, and from here on,
The journey of Made in Nigeria glove manufacturing has begun!
Will they be able to navigate the ocean full of obstacles and be hit by a giant tsunami?
Will the Margerick Nigeria be able to reach the goal safely?
Please look forward to the next one!!
~To be continued~
⚾WE ARE ONE TEAM⚾
