On Sunday 20 December, the Prince Takamado Trophy 26th All-Japan Youth (U-15) Football Championship starts its matches at each designated field in Ibaraki. 32 clubs, from J.League academy teams to school club teams to private community clubs, will gather and determine U-15 generation’s best in the nation by knock-out tournament fashion.

Kansai’s Sunrise League champions Cerezo Osaka U-15 (Kansai 1) will go head to head against Oita Trinita U-15 (Kyushu 3) in the first round. Cerezo lists players such as Ikeda Masaki and Akiyama Shun who have played together within the academy since they were in primary school, and they certainly know each other’s style very well. This year Cerezo’s academy had its U-12 team win the 38th Japan U-12 Football Championship and the U-18 team grab the Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Football League 2014 Championship. The U-15 is looking to complete so-called “Triple Crown” by their academy.

After winning the Kanto Regional Division 1 League, Kashiwa Reysol U-15 (Kanto 1) will match up against Albirex Niigata U-15 (Hokushinetsu 2) in their first match. Just as Cerezo Osaka, Kashiwa also have many players in the line-up who have been on the team since their U-12 days including those who won the 35th Japan U-12 Football Championship in 2011. Tanaka Riku, former captain on the U-12 champions roster, and Nakamura Shunta, scoring champions with 23 goals in the same tournament, are now the oldest players and leaders on the team. Kashiwa’s U-12 and U-18 both were defeated by Cerezo Osaka in their respective national championship final match, so there is no wonder the U-15 squad want to see a different result in their title journey.

Looking at school teams, registered in the Nippon Junior High School Physical Culture Association, Aomori Yamada Junior High School (Tohoku 1) and their offence stand out from the others. They scored as many as 130 goals in their 18 matches in the Michinoku League North (North Tohoku). They also topped Vegalta Sendai Junior Youth (Tohoku 2) with a 2-0 win in the Tohoku regional play-off. Captain Sasaki Yu and Mikuni Kennedy, who was invited to the JFA Elite Program U-14, are two of the outstanding talents on the roster.

There were also other teams from each region worth getting national attention including the Hokushinetsu League winners Nagaoka Junior Youth FC (Hokushinetsu 1), SSS Junior Youth (Hokkaido 2), which current Kyoto Sanga F.C. player Yamase Koji used to play for, and Catiolla FC U-15, which nurtured Kiyotake Hiroshi, current Japan international and Germany’s Hannover 96 player, and many other Oita Trinita Youth players. So please keep following the heated contests in the best U-15 tournament in Japan starting from 20 December.

The 26th Prince Takamado Trophy All Japan Yourh (U-15) Football Tournament

Saturday, December 20, 2014 - Saturday December 27, 2014
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