In May, New Taipei City’s Rueifang Elementary School little league team participated in the sixth Mercuries Life Insurance Asia Teeball team trials hosted by the ROC Taiwan Teeball Association at Aletheia University in Tamsui. Out of 32 teams, they stood out in third place, making them eligible to go to Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan for the Asian Cup. However, among the 16 team members, as many as 12 of them come from low-income or middle-income households and poor families and cannot afford the costs of the trip.
Rueifang Elementary’s Director of Student Affairs, Hsu Tsung-hsien, said the school’s little league team has taken part in the Asian Cup International Teeball Championship three times in the past four years, and when they faced a team from South Korea last year, they broke a record by hitting six consecutive home runs, leaving everyone astonished. This year, the team is set to go to Japan on July 29, but the cost per person is NT$37,000, and currently many players still do not have the funding they need.
Although it is already summer vacation, the little league team is still going to school every morning for practice and putting in a lot of effort. On Saturday afternoon last week, the team members stood in front of Rueifang Train Station and sold charity baseballs and equipment to raise money for the trip. Hsu said the baseball team was put together six years ago and has prevented many marginalized and disadvantaged students or those with behavioral problems from going astray. The kids are able to gain a sense of accomplishment from the matches and now they have an opportunity to go abroad, so they are hoping for some support from the community.
(Liberty Times, Translated By Zane Kheir)
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林欣漢
新北市瑞芳國小棒球隊五月參加中華民國樂樂棒球推廣協會在淡水真理大學舉辦的「第六屆三商美邦人壽盃亞洲teeball代表隊選拔賽」，從三十二支隊伍中脫穎而出拿到第三名，獲得前往日本靜岡參加亞洲盃的資格，但十六名團員中，有高達十二人來自低收、中低收入戶及清寒家庭，旅費還沒有著落。
瑞芳國小學務主任許聰顯說，瑞芳國小棒球隊已是最近四年第三度參加亞洲盃國際teeball錦標賽；去年對上韓國代表隊時，曾締下連續六名打者擊出全壘打的記錄，技驚四座；今年將於二十九日赴日，但每人旅費達三萬七千多元，目前仍有很多選手沒有著落。
儘管已經放暑假了，棒球隊還是每天一早就到校練球，刻苦練習，且上週六下午團員們還到瑞芳火車站義賣棒球、球具，來募集旅費。許聰淵說，棒球隊成立六年來，讓不少邊緣化高關懷弱勢或行為偏差學生避免誤入歧途，從球賽中得到成就感，現在又有機會出國，希望外界支持。
(自由時報記者林欣漢 )
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