Some Japanese high school baseball players are going to be taught the game by one of the all-time greats. According to The Asahi Shimbun, Ichiro is going to become a temporary coach at a Japanese high school.

While the specific high school isn’t unknown, the reports claims that Ichiro will be coaching a team that has won the National High School Baseball Championship on at least one occasion.

“High school baseball is ‘baseball,’ but Major League Baseball is a ‘contest,'” Ichiro said at the annual National Newspaper Convention in November, according to the report. “It’s mainly about how far you can hit the ball and that’s hardly baseball. High school baseball is very exciting. I’m really interested in amateur baseball.”

Ichiro currently works for the Mariners in two capacities: He is a special assistant to the team chairman and also an instructor. Normally, the Japan Student Baseball Association requires their managers and players that want to coach to leave their professional teams — even if the professional team is located outside of Japan. However, an exception is being made for the seven-time All-Star.

The MLB legend applied for certification to coach amateur players in Japan back in December 2019, and he received that certification in February 2020. Now, Ichiro will have an opportunity to make a huge impact on young baseball players in Japan. There’s certainly not many better players that teenagers can learn the game from than one who amassed 3,089 hits in his Major League Baseball career.

—CBS SPORTS