Yuichi Ito: What is Required of a BC League Manager

In March of this year, many Japanese citizens were overjoyed by Japan's performance in the WBC. Through the tournament, where Japan reclaimed the world title for the first time in three tournaments, I felt that the popularity of baseball remains deeply rooted.

Currently, I spend my days thinking about and implementing ways to contribute to society through baseball. The BC League, which has entered its 17th year since its founding as "Hometown Professional Baseball," is based in eight prefectures across the Tohoku, Kanto, and Koshinetsu regions. I want to think about the environment for children to pursue their dreams and the "future of the region" through sports.

The BC League Charter is established as follows:

・Our mission is to raise the children of the region together with the community.

・By always playing with full effort, we give dreams to the region and its children.

・By always practicing fair play, we give dreams to the region and its children.

・Whether inside or outside the baseball stadium, we serve as role models for the region and its children.

What is particularly noteworthy is the phrasing "the region" and "the children of the region."

Tetsuji Murayama, the representative who founded the BC League, often says, "The starting point was the desire to create the stage of dreams and excitement I experienced at the baseball stadium as a boy in the place where I was born and raised, to revive the declining popularity of baseball from the regions, and to convey the true wonders of baseball to children by expanding that nationwide."

In other words, it is a league that is loved, encouraged, cheered for, and supported by local people even more than the NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) consisting of 12 teams—a league where the "region" is the main protagonist. And through that stage, it is necessary to continue being an existence that gives "dreams" and "inspiration" by having the children of the region watch the players' performances up close.

I should mention that I worked as a director at NHK for 10 years after graduating from university. What I learned in the world of television is also my starting point. I listened to various stories from interviewees and thought about society based on events occurring in the world. It was also a decade where I learned the necessity and means of leading an organization, and the art of communicating clearly and attractively to the viewers watching the programs.

While the desire to be someone who can influence and contribute more to society was growing, at the end of last year, I applied for a "Manager Tryout" that widely recruited talent, including non-baseball people, with no requirements for baseball experience, age, or gender. I received an unofficial offer and became the manager of the BC League's Ibaraki Astro Planets in January of this year.

Although I have baseball experience through high school, I have never been in a professional league nor do I have experience in baseball coaching. So why exactly was I hired? What is required is not teaching the fine techniques of baseball. It is, so to speak, "organizational management"—uniting specialists who excel in various fields, such as position-specific coaches for pitchers and fielders, and trainers, to support player growth and lead them to victory.

This "organizational management" has many overlaps with my time as a television director. I propose the direction of the program I want to make and move toward a single goal (program production) while managing specialists with diverse values, such as camera operators, audio technicians, editors, and announcers. They may seem like completely different worlds, but the required roles and ways of moving within the organization are the same. There are many difficulties as there is no model precedent within the baseball world, but I want to utilize my own experience and make this a challenge that makes an impact on the world of professional baseball.

Now, what can I do as a manager for the aforementioned "region" and "children of the region"? I feel that I need to utilize my previous experience here as well. During my time as a director, I had opportunities to depict "regions" and "children" through various programs. What I felt then was that, as a social mechanism, it has become difficult to say that the priority of regions and children is high.

In my personal opinion, I feel that the acceleration of a society that prioritizes immediate profits in recent years has led to extreme concentration in Tokyo, leaving rural areas behind. Furthermore, I feel that because the opinions and ideas of generations with large populations have been prioritized, society has become difficult to live in for the children who will carry Japan's future.

To break through such a situation, we must energize the region and children with the power of baseball. And we must be a team that can provide dreams. I feel that a manager is required not only to focus on wins, losses, and player development, but also to create a place that can provide opportunities for the region and its children.

If the region becomes energetic, the children will become energetic. If the children become energetic, the region will become energetic.

What I want to be conscious of is creating a team that integrates into the community and makes the region and children feel proud, as the only professional baseball team in the prefecture. While the number of children who are said to have no dreams is increasing, I want them to feel something through the team's activities. I believe that is what it means to revitalize the region through baseball and think about the future of the region and its children.