The summer national high school baseball, which will be held for the first time in two years due to the influence of the new coronavirus, started on the 10th at Koshien Stadium, and 49 representative schools participated in the opening ceremony while infection control measures were taken.
The schedule for summer national high school baseball was postponed by one day due to the typhoon, and the opening ceremony was held at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture from 9 am on the 10th.
The opening ceremony began with all 49 representative school players wearing masks and lining up in the outfield. First, singer Ikusaburo Yamazaki, who appeared in NHK's serial TV novel "Ale" broadcast last year, took part in the tournament. I sang the song "The crown shines on you".
The entrance march, which used to go around the venue every year, was changed to a simplified format from the viewpoint of infection control, and after each team was introduced, the players marched from the outfield to the infield.
Then, the captain of Komatsu Otani High School in Ishikawa, Hitoshi Kinoshita, took the oath of the player and said, "In order to remind people of the wonderfulness of chasing dreams, we played with energy and physical strength at this dream Koshien. I swear to show the true appearance of high school baseball players. "
As the infection of the new coronavirus spreads again at the tournament, tickets will not be sold to the general public and admission will be restricted to school personnel, and up to three PCR tests will be conducted on team personnel. Thorough infection control measures will be taken.
The tournament will be held for 17 days, including rest days, and the final is scheduled for August 26th.
Infection control at the opening ceremony
At the opening ceremony of the National High School Baseball Championship in the summer, measures against infection with the new coronavirus were taken.
All the athletes from the representative school and the local high school girls with placards wore masks.
The entrance march has also been simplified, and instead of going around the stadium once, we have arranged in advance in the outfield and moved forward toward the infield.
He also asked not to shout during the march.
The spacing when teams line up has been increased from approximately 90 centimeters to approximately 1 meter and 50 centimeters.
In addition, the number of brass band and chorus was less than half of the average year, and Ikusaburo Yamazaki also sang the tournament song at a sufficient distance from the players.
Player oath "The best result ever"
Komatsu Otani High School captain Hitoshi Kinoshita of Ishikawa, who swore at the opening ceremony, said, "I practiced a total of 100 times. I practiced a lot on the moving bus, and it was the best I've ever done. I was able to swear. "
Then, when asked about the part he was particular about in his oath, he said, "I wanted to put in the thoughts of last year's third grader, who lost Koshien."