Student Well-Being

Disaster-Stricken Japan Rallies Around High School Baseball

By Bryan Toporek — March 30, 2011 1 min read
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You may have noticed that this blog takes a particular liking to “using sports for good"—the idea that sports can transcend athletic competition and have a lasting impact on a large body of people.

For instance, after World War II, Japan rallied around professional baseball, as it “provided welcome distraction while serving as a symbol of the cooperation, hard work, and self-sacrifice needed to rebuild the devastated land,” according to the Associated Press.

Now, as the AP reports, Japan has gone back to baseball as a source of national pride after the devastating earthquake and tsunami from earlier this month.

Now the nation is turning elsewhere for a glimmer of hope: fresh-faced adolescents who play their hearts out on the baseball field with a seriousness and integrity sometimes missing from their pro heroes.

Be sure to click through and read the whole story. It’s a refreshing reminder of the healing power of sports.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Schooled in Sports blog.