The 27th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament is to be held on Saturday 19 March. Prior to the start of the tournament, in this article we present an interview with IKEDA Hiromi, who used to be the captain of Nadeshiko Japan and has been playing in Azure Hyogo since her retirement. Ikeda led the team to claim the title in the 25th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament. For the coming Tournament, she sent a shout-out to the participating players.

- How did you find Azure Hyogo?

IKEDA Hiromi: One of my friends from Azure Hyogo recommended it. After retiring as a player when I was 32 years old, I had a baby. Back then, I took my child to a park called "Village of Happiness" in Kobe. There was a ground in the park and Azure Hyogo often held practice matches there. To be honest, I wanted to play a little bit. However, I devoted everything to football as a player, and wasn’t keen on doing things by half. As I had a child, I hesitated to kick a ball again. One day, a friend from Azure Hyogo said: "you are always just watching. Why not have a go, anyway?" So here I was in Azure Hyogo!

- How did you feel when you joined?

IKEDA: Although I thought strongly I shouldn’t do things by half, everyone there tried to understand each other’s circumstance. So I could play in a relaxed way. Some could join the once-a-week practice session, while others couldn’t due to personal reasons. All of them had something else, families or businesses, apart from football. It was really comfortable to play without any pressure on your pace. I was grateful to get to know a new way to deal with football.

- How did you continue to play sport after giving a birth?

IKEDA: As I believed the basic skill in football is to run. So I found time to do so everyday. Even though I couldn’t make the once-a-week session, I did 20 or 30-minute running everyday without fail. It was whether my body could catch up with my image of how I used to play. The image stays the same, whereas your physical state can change. So I focused on sustaining my basic stamina.

- When did you feel pleased that you had started again?

IKEDA: I was really glad that I could play with players, who were practicing hard. I enjoyed myself through connections – holding training sessions together and playing practice matches. It’s ideal to have an opportunity and environment to play football again after getting married or giving birth. So I hope there will be more championships like the Ladies Football Tournament.

- Tell me about winning the 25th Tournament.

IKEDA: Generally speaking, the players in the All Japan Ladies Football Tournament tend to be over thirty years old. However, our team had four or five players in their forties. On the other hand, our opponent in the final (Kodaira SC) were very young and I still remember that I thought "oh wow!?" Although we struggled in the match, we won the game on penalties.

Despite our aim to become champions, we didn’t quite expect that it would happen. So I cried the moment we won. After retiring as a player, I didn’t think I’d cry like that. If I cry in normal life, it’s when I’m sad. However, I cried out of joy, because we had won the football tournament. I was thrilled to know that "I can still feel this way." It was also a new discovery for me.

To be continued.

The 27th All Japan Ladies Football Tournament

19 March 2016 - 21 March 2016
Susono Ground of Tokinosumika Sports Centre (Susono, Shizuoka)
More information