Following the training camp in Shizuoka in late March, the U-14 women of the JFA Elite Programme this time participate in the AFC U-14 Girls Regional Championship as their second event in 2015. This regional tournament is organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and eight countries and regions participate from the East Asia: Japan, Korea Republic, China, DPR Korea, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The first day had all players gather at Narita Airport and head coach Kato Kenji gave the team a brief talk on this tournament before they worked on their first assignment of a communication skill workshop. Most of the players have taken part in some kind of national team activities since they were in the U-13 generation last year, and it did not take long for them to break ice. Although the last task of “re-placing poem” appeared to be a little harder, the young girls finished all tasks with correct answers.

Although the flight delayed for an hour and the team arrived at their hotel late at night, matches will get underway on 19th after one day for training. The first opponents are Korea Republic, one of the better teams. Japan’s group also have Guam and Chinese Taipei. After playing against every team in the group, the top two teams in each group move on to the quarter finals. Finishing as the runners-up in the last year’s championship, Japan are certainly looking for a better finish.

Head Coach and Players' Comments

KATO Kenji, Head Coach (JFA National Training Centre Coach)
When we got together at Narita Airport, every player’s face showed great concentration, and I sensed passion for this tournament from our players. We made sure that not only we feel good about experiencing international matches but also everyone will tackle her own assignment, show her strength on the pitch and stick to winning matches as a team.
Our flight departure delayed and we arrived at our hotel later than we originally planned. So when players got into bed, it was already past midnight.
We will do good preparation work tomorrow and get ready for the matches starting on 19th. 

TANAKA Tomoko (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Girls)
I have three things that I want to do well in this China trip. The first one is about keeping the ball close to me. That’s my strength, so I will take advantage of it and get involved in scoring plays. The second is coaching my teammates, which I am not good at. Through this China trip, I will work hard to be able to coach my teammates well. The third one is always keeping myself focused and doing everything I can to get good results.
In the communication skills session, we did self-introduction, Q&A game and Poem-memorisation game. I think I got better at the Q&A game and now can answer faster. I will do my best in training and matches that start tomorrow. 

TERADA Himeka (Asahi Sports FC Junior Youth)
I have three goals for myself in this trip. The first one is to play my game and show what I can do both in training and matches. I want people to see how I run and how I am being vocal, more than anybody else, and play hard both in offence and defence. The second one is to stick to our team’s win even when I try to show my individual play. This is the first tournament for me, so I will take each match seriously and want to win the tournament. I want to bring the gold medal to my people back in Miyazaki supporting me. The third one is about what we do off the pitch. I will make it my rule to pay attention to people around me on the airplane and bus and at the hotel not to disturb people around me. I think if I can do these three things, it will lead to the championship. So I will make sure to do everything well one at a time, and make this trip worthwhile for myself.

Schedule