Last weekend, at the Ronald Reagan Sports Park, the Temecula PONY baseball organization, known locally as the Temecula Youth Baseball League (TYB), hosted an international scrimmage game featuring seven young Japanese baseball players and 13 very fortunate TYB players that were selected at random from a list of over 300 entries from the league. 

"It was the first time the Japanese players had ever been to California, and they were all  so excited for the opportunity to not only play baseball in the states, but to also gain a new perspective on how American kids communicated during the game," stated Chris Cullen, director at the California School of English. "The goal is to bring kids from abroad here to the area to enhance their English speaking skills, and at the same time give them something special to remember in other areas that they excel in, like sports."

Temecula Mayor Jeff Comerchero was also on hand to welcome the players and help manage one of the teams along with other TYB coaches.

Many members of the TYB board of directors were there to give the game a professional look and feel with umpires, game announcers broadcasting in both English and Japanese, official bat boys, and plenty of treats from the snack bar that had an extra special major league feel to it with grilled burgers and dogs for the fans.

The Japanese boys all ranged from 9- to 13-years-old and were described by all the host families as "well-behaved, respectful, and tidy." 

Coach Roosevelt Simmons exclaimed, "Even though there might have been a little bit of a communication barrier to overcome, there Advertisement

Primus Golf Academy is no denying that when all the kids hit the field, they all spoke the same the language—Baseball."

Shinobu Simmons, Roosevelt’s wife, who is also a teacher at the school, brought her translation skills to the broadcasting booth to help make the visiting players feel a little more at home. 

"I’m a big fan of baseball and an event like this that brings international visitors to our city is special," said Comerchero. "We look forward to the many upcoming endeavors that the representatives from the California School of English want to bring to the valley."

TYB President, Shawn Ferris, was all smiles as the game got underway.

"This isn’t the first time we have done something like this, we hosted a group of Japanese players a couple of years ago and we had Australia the year before," he said. "This is such a unique and memorable cultural experience for both the host families and the boys that are getting the opportunity to play alongside the Japanese players, and who knows, there may be a future Dice-K, Matsui or Ichiro among the guys we have this year."

Ferris also said he would like to thank the Temecula Valley International Center for helping facilitate this event, The Temecula Valley Unified School District PTA and The School of English and Foreign Languages for continuing to bring something new and unique to the area and league.

Already on the schedule is a baseball tournament in the summer that could bring close to 30 more Japanese players to the valley. There is also talk from the California School of English about bringing some International student golfers from Korea. 

For more information on the California School of English, visit www.csofe.com, and the TYB league can be found online at www.tybb.org.