Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday met with the winning team of the Junior League Baseball World Series Championship, affirming the Taipei City Government’s continuous sponsorship for the team.
The Chung-Ching Junior Little League in Taipei defeated Texas 9-1 on Saturday in Michigan and earned Taiwan’s 18th title since 1992.
Hau invited the team players, coaches and school principal for steaks yesterday, and gave each player NT$12,000 as an award. Hau dismissed the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) criticism of the city government for what the party called a lack of financial support.
“We gave the team a NT$550,000 subsidy for training before the game and asked coaches from the Taipei City Baseball Team to help with their training. The city government did not ignore the team’s requests,” Hau said.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) and Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) yesterday accused the city government of first refusing the school’s request for a NT$200,000 subsidy for the trip and then changing its attitude after the team won.
Hau said that the team’s travel expenses were covered by the Sports Affairs Council, and said the city government has offered various forms of assistance to the team during the training period.
“I promised the players that I would treat them to steaks if they won the championship, and so I am just fulfilling my promise. The city government will continue to offer our assistance to the team and the sport,” he added.
Team batter Lin Tzu-wei (林子崴), who proved to be a promising star after leading the team to the championship, said his goal was to play Major League Baseball in the US, and said he expected the school would find a better training site in addition to the one inside the school.
Chung-Ching Junior High School principal Wu Wen-chung (吳文中) confirmed that the city government had offered subsidies and assistance to the baseball team, and said Taipei City’s Department of Education has promised to provide a better training site for the team.
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