In June 2021, Japan Football Association (JFA) has announced the completion of the training facility for the Japan Beach Soccer National Team at Prince Takamado Memorial JFA YUME Field. The opening ceremony for the new beach soccer facility nicknamed as “Pitch Carioca” took place on 7 July.

The ceremony was attended by President NAGAYO Hironori of the Japan Beach Soccer Federation who donated the sand for the pitch, Chairman KITAZAWA Tsuyoshi of JFA Futsal/Beach Soccer Committee, Mr. RAMOS Ruy who led the Japan Beach Soccer National Team at the 2005 and 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™, Player-Coach MOREIRA Ozu of the current Japan Beach Soccer National Team, JFA President TASHIMA Kohzo, and the players of the Japan Beach Soccer National Team.

The participants took turns to give a speech to commemorate the completion of the pitch and encourage the Japan Beach Soccer National Team ahead of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021™ which is scheduled to take place in August. After all of the speeches were given, Player-Coach Moreira displayed a spectacular bicycle kick as the “Kick-off Shoot” to conclude the ceremony.

Following the ceremony, a photo session took place before the Japan Beach Soccer National Team kicked off their first training camp at the new Beach Soccer Pitch of the Prince Takamado Memorial JFA YUME Field.

Overview of the new Beach Soccer Pitch “Pitch Carioca”

Construction start date: February 2021
Completion date: Mon. 28 June 2021
Area of sand surface: 33m x 42m
Lighting: Average illuminance of about 400lxs
Auxiliary facilities: Lawn bleachers, safety net, dressing room (Scheduled to be completed in mid-July)
Sand donation: Japan Beach Soccer Federation

The nickname “Pitch Carioca”

It is said that beach soccer originated in Brazil and the first Beach Soccer World Championships was held at Copacabana Beach (Rio de Janeiro) in 1995. Since then, Rio de Janeiro has become the Mecca of beach soccer, and the word “Carioca” is a demonym used to refer to anything related to the city of Rio de Janeiro. Just like Copacabana Beach, the beach soccer pitch at JFA YUME Field is located along the coast. In addition, Mr. RAMOS Ruy who led the Japan Beach Soccer National Team to their best finish of fourth place at the 2005 (first edition) and 2019 (10th edition) FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™, and the team’s current Player-Coach MOREIRA Ozu are both from Rio de Janeiro. In order to show respect for the history and achievements made by the Brazilian city, the word “Carioca” was given as a nickname of the new beach soccer pitch established at JFA YUME Field.

Comments

TASHIMA Kohzo, JFA President
We named this pitch, Prince Takamado Memorial JFA YUME Field Pitch Carioca, as “Carioca” is a nickname of Mr. Ramos Ruy and a demonym used to refer to people from the city of Rio de Janeiro, which is the hometown of both Mr. Ramos and Coach Moreira. The name was also derived from Copacabana Beach, which is located in Rio de Janeiro. We hope to see the Japan Beach Soccer National Team thrive from here to the world stage and make Pitch Carioca the Mecca of Beach Soccer. Let’s make this a place that is loved and cherished by everybody. We are planning on inviting neighbours and other members of the football family to observe the training sessions of the Japan Beach Soccer National Team. I am sure that the opportunity to watch beach soccer does not come by that often for most people, so we hope to promote the sport by allowing people to observe the training sessions and matches held on this pitch. We would like to express our gratitude once again towards President Nagayo of the Japan Beach Soccer Federation. We must also thank all the supporters who contributed to the completion of Pitch Carioca. The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021™ is just around the corner. We are looking forward to seeing great results.

Mr. NAGAYO Hironori, Japan Beach Soccer Federation President
Congratulations on the completion of this beach pitch. I would like to express my gratitude to President Tashima and the staffs of JFA for making the decision to start the construction of this wonderful pitch despite the ongoing pandemic. Thank you very much. The sport of beach soccer has been deeply influenced by the corona pandemic, as players were not able to hold sufficient trainings, while many tournaments were cancelled, and promotional efforts have been stagnant. This pitch was constructed to enhance the quality of trainings of the Japan Beach Soccer National Team, so we hope the players will keep that in mind as they conduct their training sessions on this pitch. Japan has finished in fourth place at the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™ held in Paraguay, but our hopes to further promote the sport were dashed due to the effect of the pandemic, so I am strongly rooting for the Japan Beach Soccer National Team to bring back the World Cup title.

Mr. RAMOS Ruy, Former Coach of Japan Beach Soccer National Team
We started promoting the sport of beach soccer from scratch, so no one had expected it to come this far. We must not take this whole development for granted, continue to play with a sense of gratitude, and strive to give back by producing results. I want the players to believe in themselves. The world is feeling threatened by the rise of Japanese football. Believe in yourselves and show your affection towards beach soccer. We need your support to further develop the sport in Japan. I am looking forward to seeing you going beyond your potential to compete against the world.

MOREIRA Ozu, Player-Coach of Japan Beach Soccer National Team
This day has become a very important day for the Japanese beach soccer community. We had nothing to start with, so it is amazing that we have such a wonderful environment prepared for us to play beach soccer. We are extremely honoured and happy to be able to utilise this spectacular facility to prepare ourselves for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup™ scheduled to be held next month in Russia. Following our fourth place finish in the previous World Cup, we hope to give back to all of our supporters by winning a medal.