The Japan Women's Softball Organization has announced that Toshimasa Shimada, who has demonstrated his skills in baseball and Nippon Ham, will be appointed as the chairman of the new league that will be launched next year.
Softball will be out of the competition at the Paris Olympics three years later, and next year we will launch a new league that is conscious of community ties in order to restore the popularity of the current Japanese league and increase the competition population.
The Japan Women's Softball Organization announced at a press conference held in Tokyo on the 17th that Mr. Shimada will be appointed as the first chairman of the new league.
Mr. Shimada is 65 years old.
Until three years ago, he was the team representative for professional baseball and Nippon Ham, and has demonstrated his skills toward the realization of the ball park concept centered on the relocation of the baseball team from Tokyo to Hokkaido and the new stadium that is scheduled to open again next year. ..
Mr. Shimada, who attended the press conference, said, "I think it is dangerous for softball to leave the Olympics after the Tokyo Games, but I would like to see it as an opportunity. I want to create a new league that does not rely on the Olympics because it has potential." I expressed my enthusiasm.
In addition, Taeko Utsugi, a former coach of the Japan national team and vice chairman of the association, will be appointed captain who is mainly in charge of strengthening the competition side. I want to make a new league that gives dreams and hopes while making the best use of it. I also want to use it as a saucer for overseas players. "