Sports better lives

All Nippon Airways, Japan’s largest five-star airline for 11 consecutive years, collaborates with NB Academy to be the official partner of the Smokey Mountain Baseball Project in the Philippines.

SMBP supports young athletes in local communities, including Tondo, through baseball clinics, where the coaches are former professional baseball players of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Since 2012, approximately 3,000 have participated and more than 100 have been able to be athletic scholars in the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle.

Naoaki Takayanagi, executive vice president and general manager, Asia and Oceania:

“SMBP has been inspiring youth baseball players in the Philippines for over a decade and the activity is fully aligned with the ANA Group’s vision of ‘Uniting the World in Wonder’. Through SMBP, we look forward to creating wonder in them as the future leaders of the country.”

Shogo SHIBATA, SMBP project owner of NB Academy:

“SMBP has been ongoing since 2012 and is held jointly with the Golden Players Club. It has been loved for many years as an extremely meaningful initiative, as it provides them with a chance to interact with kids who actually live in an environment they wouldn’t normally see through baseball. We had been facing a cost challenge, but ANA has agreed to provide full support, holding this year’s event without incident.”