As part of the “SPORT FOR TOMORROW” programme carried out by the Japan Sport Council (JSC), the second day of the South America - Japan U-17 Football Exchange Programme was held on Thursday 21 February, as a football exchange gathering with Santiago Japanese School and a seminar for women’s football coaches were conducted.

The football exchange gathering with Santiago Japanese School was made possible with the support of the Embassy of Japan in Chile. A total of 40 students from primary and junior high school participated at the event where the members of the U-17 Japan National Team, Coach MORIYAMA Yoshiro, and all other staff members of the team were seen enjoying the social interaction.

During the event, the participants were divided into three groups according to their age to play a mini-game. Following the mini-game, a scrimmage was conducted where the participating children were seen giving their best efforts to play against the coaches and players of the national team.

The event concluded with the participating children giving words of encouragement to send off the U-17 Japan National Team to the FIFA U-17 World Cup (scheduled to be held in October 2019), while the players returned the favour with their own message towards the children.

On this same day, a seminar for women’s football coaches was held at Complejo Deportivo Juan Pinto Duran, a facility where the Chile National Team holds their training camps.

The seminar consisted a lecture in the morning and a practical training session in the afternoon, where 20 women’s football coaches belonging to Chilean club teams participated. The participants listened in closely to the lecture given by National Training Centre Coach TODOROKI Natsuko and asked many questions regarding the development system of women’s football carried out in Japan and the coaching methods of the developing age categories, showing great interests in each of the topics.

A practical training session was held at the training facility in the afternoon, where the participants took part in a two-hour session to get actual insights of the training menus and methods. The seminar was concluded with the words given by Coach Reinaldo RUEDA of the Chile National Team.

The fourth day of the exchange programme saw the final game of the tournament take place as the U-17 Paraguay National Team captured the title with their two wins. The U-17 Japan National Team finished as the runners-up with a record of one win and one loss.

The match results of the U-17 Japan National Team held on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 are as follows.

Comments

Luis Ahumada PEREZ, Head Coach of Chile National Team Youth Team (Football Federation of Chile)
I am very thankful to be given such wonderful opportunity. It is an honour to be lectured regarding the system and know-hows of the World class Japan women’s football. The most fascinating part was to learn about the strictly systematic training methods that allow them to carry out consistency throughout the system. The philosophy carried out by the JFA was also very inspiring, and we would like to learn from their organisation, discipline, consistency, and persistency. We will implement what we have learnt today to further develop the level of women’s football in Chile.

TODOROKI Natsuko (JFA National Training Centre Coach)
This seminar we held here in Chile was a new experience for me, and at first, I wasn’t sure if I can carry out a lecture that meets the demand of the participants. However, as the seminar progressed, the demand and requests became clear, and the event gave me a great opportunity to learn about many things. This seminar has shown the magnitude of the commitment and devotion given by the Chile Football Community to heighten the level of women’s football in Chile. Despite the geological distance between Chile and Japan, we hope to give our efforts to heighten each other’s football community.

Schedule

*Local Time
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

About “SPORT FOR TOMORROW”

“SPORT FOR TOMORROW” is an international sport contribution initiative led by the Japanese government, which was announced by Prime Minister ABE Shinzo during the IOC Congress in order to promote the bidding activities for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo. It is aimed to spread the value of ‘SPORT’ to more than 10 million people across all generations in over 100 nations, especially in developing countries, from the year 2014 leading up to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.