A Đà Nẵng Lemaeus baseball club pitcher. — Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng Lemaeus baseball

ĐÀ NẴNG — Inspired by the endangered red-shanked douc langur species in Sơn Trà Nature Reserve, Đà Nẵng, the Lemaeus Baseball Club was established in 2011. 

Its name is a combination of the langur’s scientific name (Pygathrix nemaeus) and the initial letter of the original club team from Lê Quý Đôn High School. Since then, the team’s members have continued to train regularly and play the sport over the past decade.

Shoji Arima from the Japan-Việt Nam Baseball Association said the first baseball team in Đà Nẵng has 30 players ranging in age from 15 to 30. They train at Hòa Xuân Athletics Stadium.

According to Arima, the junior team, Hope Whales, has about 30 players ranging in age from 11 to 20 and train at FPT Ground, while the Danang Youth team has 10 players (aged 10-14) who take practical courses at Thanh Niên Park.

Another team in the central region, CBC Huế, has recruited 15 players from 15 to 30 years old.

“About 85 baseball players in different age groups have joined regular training courses in the region. Equipment and facilities for baseball are provided through donations from Japanese people and foreigners, as well as imports from China,” Arima explained.

Đà Nẵng Lemaeus baseball club players train in Đà Nẵng. Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng Lemaeus baseball

“The Danang Youth team is supported by myself and my friend Takashi Suzuki. Suzuki and I, along with several Korean friends, provide support for Lemaeus,” he said.

The Lemaeus team have earned some impressive achievements in national tournaments in recent years, he added.

“They lost all four games in 2023, but had one win and three losses in 2024. In 2025, they had three wins and one loss. The team are gradually growing. One player from Đà Nẵng's team, Dương Nam Anh, was selected as a member of the national team to compete in the SEA Games in Thailand in 2025,” Arima noted.

Support for the team also comes from the association's Manabu Kitabori and other Japanese instructors, including Koichi Nakamura and Naoya Wada, he said.

Đà Nẵng's baseball scene was originally started by a group of schoolboys, with guidance and support from Phạm Thành Nhân, whose father is a Japanese engineer.

The Đà Nẵng Lemaeus baseball club poses for a photo at a friendly match. The team is one of the forerunners of baseball in the city. — Photo courtesy of Đà Nẵng Lemaeus baseball

Nhân was the founder and coach of the YBC team (Yêu bóng chày, or ‘Love Baseball’), as he started playing the sport when he was growing up in Japan's Kochi-Ken city.

Japanese players and local baseball trainers have also joined exchanges at the annual Việt Nam-Japan Cultural Festival in Đà Nẵng. —  VNS