On Saturday 12 January, day one of the 11th Football Conference took place at Kochi Prefectural Culture Hall.

The Football Conference has been an event towards the coaches throughout the nation who has obtained a coaching licence issued by the Japan Football Association (JFA). Since the inaugural gathering took place in 1998, the conference has taken place every other year. The conference is a platform to share the works carried out by the JFA and to acknowledge the direction the Japanese football community is heading. It also gives the coaches of Japan to interact and listen into foreign instructors sharing the current trends and approaches seen in the football communities abroad.

The 11th gathering of this event attracted nearly 1,000 coaches to Kochi from all over the nation. With the event carrying out a theme of “2018 FIFA World Cup Russia - Let's go to see new scenery together,” participants will review last year’s World Cup and discuss about the future outlook in the next three days.

The event opened on Saturday 12, where the conference started off with speeches given out by the JFA Technical Director SEKIZUKA Takashi and JFA President TASHIMA Kohzo. After stating, “We would like to come together and discuss the future of Japanese football,” Technical Director Sekizuka connected the line with Coach MORIYASU Hajime of the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team), who is in Abu Dhabi for the Asian Cup. Coach Moriyasu left a message to the crowd by stating, “The Japanese football is created by the tireless efforts given by the coaches of all categories from all over the nation, and it has given the national team great strengths. We have tremendous respect and gratitude towards your efforts, and we will fight in behalf of every coaches in Japan at the Asian Cup.”

President Tashima followed by mentioning, “We will be given a lecture from Mr. Gunnarsson ARNAR BILL (Technical Director/Head of Education of the Football Association of Iceland) tomorrow. His home country, Iceland, is a country with a population of approximately 340,000, similar to this Kochi prefecture. They are a northern island country who has overcame many challenges. There maybe many differences in the surroundings and environment, but by holding this Football Conference here in Kochi, it may give us the opportunity to heighten the overall level of Japanese and Asian football.”

Following the introduction, the event rolled out programmes with the theme of “2018 FIFA World Cup Technical Report: Japan in the World,” as the Japan National Team’s TSG (Technical Study Group) presented their report. An interview film between Coach Roberto MARTINEZ of the Belgium National Team and Coach Moriyasu Hajime was shown to review the World Cup match against Belgium. During the section of the FIFA TSG report, Technical Director Andy ROXBURGH from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), JFA Instructor ONO Takeshi, and Coach KAGEYAMA Masanaga of the U-20 Japan National Team took the podium to give their analysis on the teams appearing in the World Cup held in Russia. The lecture went onto acknowledged where Japan stood in this particular tournament and reviewed the trends that was apparent throughout the tournament.

Participants' Comments

・After reviewing the FIFA World Cup, it gave me another opportunity to soak in the joy and disappointment of the particular tournament. In the interview film, Belgium’s Coach Roberto Martinez shared us with many knowledges and sent a message to the coaches of Japan, which was very heart moving.

・This was my first time participating in the Football Conference, but after hearing the review of the FIFA World Cup, it gave me a very productive experience. In the remaining two days, we would like to absorb the enthusiasm shown by the JFA and share it with our players.

・I joined the conference to gain a hint to help my coaching career. It was great to see the enthusiasm shown by the JFA President Tashima and the strong commitment displayed by Coach Moriyasu. The interview with Coach Roberto Martinez of the Belgium National Team was also very interesting. I am looking forward for the remaining two days.