Young Japanese Athletes Enjoy Sports Exchange in the U.S.

Young Japanese baseball and softball players, aged 14 to 17, visited the United States in August as part of the U.S. State Department’s first international sports exchange with Japan. The youngsters are from a region hit hard by Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami, so the program offered an opportunity for Americans to express their continued support for Japan as the country rebuilds.

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Slideshow: Young Japanese Athletes Enjoy Sports Exchange
Young Japanese baseball and softball players, aged 14 to 17, visited the United States in August as part of the U.S. State Department's first international sports exchange with Japan.

Young Japanese Players Pick Up Tips from Baseball's Ripken
Japanese youth who play baseball and softball are picking up tips from American baseball icon Cal Ripken Jr. The girls shown here are among 16 Japanese youth visiting the United States for two weeks in August on a sports exchange.

 

Clinton on First U.S.-Japan International Sports Exchange
We are so delighted to welcome the ambassador and also Cal Ripken, Jr., here today as we celebrate the wonderful program, the Japanese sports visitor program, that's been going on for a long time.

 

Clinton and Cal Ripken Jr. Host Young Japanese Athletes
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. baseball icon Cal Ripken Jr. met with young Japanese baseball and softball players as part of the Department of State's first international sports exchange with Japan.

 

Japanese Baseball Players' U.S. Visit Is in Full Swing
Ron Baker, an experienced American youth baseball coach, found he couldn't quite take his eyes off Takahiro Ikeda hitting practice balls off a tee at an indoor training facility in Baltimore.

 

Softball After Tsunami
Five Japanese girls, among a group of 16 youth visiting the United States in August, took time to share photos and memories with the parents of Taylor Anderson, an English teacher in the small town of Ishinomaki who was killed in the March 11 tsunami.