The Daily Yomiuri reports that high school teams from the Fukushima prefecture are preparing for this month's All Japan High School Baseball Championship at a severe disadvantage.
Though it's been over three months since the earthquake and tsunami hit the island country, high school teams that play near the damaged power plant are still being restricted when it comes to games and practice.
That has meant taking precautions like staying off the turf or infield dirt because of possibly poisoned soil, and significantly cutting outdoor practice times each day.
At Soma High School in Soma, players were prohibited from sliding into base or making diving catches until mid-May. "The practices lacked oomph because the players couldn't give it their all," said head coach Osamu Kuwana, 42.
Nihonmatsu Technical High School in Nihonmatsu is about 55 kilometers from the nuclear plant. On rainy days, the baseball team holds running drills in the school's corridors and stairways because of radioactive substances in the rain. But with other sports clubs forced to do the same, the hallways are as crowded as a train station during rush hour.
The paper also reports that the three high schools within the power plant's 20km no-entry zone have formed a joint team and plan to compete in the giant tournament. But even that effort may go for naught as high radiation levels could cancel games before they even �begin.
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