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JFA UNIQLO SOCCER KIDS in Singapore - event report

09 November 2015

JFA UNIQLO SOCCER KIDS in Singapore - event report

The JFA UNIQLO SOCCER KIDS is an open fun football event for pre-school children under six years old. With co-sponsorship of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), as well as of main football stadiums across the country, the event was held in Singapore on Saturday 7 November.

Approximately 250 children gathered at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Posters and brochures to attract participants for this event were placed in UNIQLO shops across the host country in the same way as the events in Japan, as well as at Albirex Niigata’s, who belong to the S.League, and at six Japanese kindergartens, which were given guidance by Singapore. Participating teams applied through "JFA.jp", the official website of the JFA.

HARA Hiromi, the General Secretary of JFA, LIM KIA TONG, the Vice President of FAS, and corporate officers of UNIQLO CO., LTD, including MORIKAWA Taku, attended the event. Children played with the official mascot of the FAS Cubs programme, "Sparky" and "Twinkle".

KATO Naomi, the instructor of Albirex Niigata Singapore Cheerleading School, performed warm up exercises.

44 teams were divided into 11 groups to play a four-on-four without a goalkeeper, and each group held a round-robin tournament among four teams. Grass-root coaches of the FAS refereed and managed the matches on eight pitches. 60 volunteers, who worked for UNIQLO in Singapore, helped as ushers and prepared AirGoals.

As enjoying football is more important than result itself in this event, there was no announcement of scores or results. The staff displayed green cards, which were also used in Japan, to encourage children’s good manners. There was also an area, in which children could play between matches with AirGoals with target marks. All the children high-fived with all the staff after the games, and received certificates of commendation. Many smiles could be seen around in the event.

The JFA signed a partnership agreement with the FAS in April 2011. They extended their contract three more years in February this year. FAS Board members came to Japan to learn Japanese grass-root activities, such as JFA UNIQLO SOCCER KIDS in Kashima Stadium in May.

The FAS have been eager to improve the football environment for children by establishing a grass-root activity, such as the Cubs programme. This event is a part of activities related to the partnership agreement with the FAS, and is supported by UNIQLO CO., LTD just like previous one, which have been sponsored domestic events for many years.

Participants’ Comments

Shameema (Singaporean)
My husband found this event on the Internet, and we applied for it. Our four children participated in it. In a nutshell, they "got a buzz out of it". Although they usually haven’t got an opportunity to move this much, in this event UNIQLO staff supported children in each team just like a big club team. We’d love to come back next year. My child was pleased, mentioning she played "three matches."

HARADA Yukari with other three families (Singapore-residing Japanese)
We found this event on Facebook and applied for it. As the qualifying age was different, we couldn’t join last year. This year, we came here with other three families, including four girls and two boys. They usually do physical exercises only at nursery and enrichment lessons.

The children did enjoy themselves so much, that they even carried the ball with their hands. As my child was a little too young to understand football, it was good the event was not strict at all about football. It was our first time to take part in the event this year, but we’d definitely like to come back next year.

Event Outline

Title NameJFA UNIQLO SOCCER KIDS in Singapore
Date Saturday, November 7, 2015
Time Schedule Gates Open & Reception 08:30am
March-in: 9:15am
Opening Ceremony: 9:30am
Festival: 10:00am-12:10pm
Closing Ceremony: 12:20pm
Venue Jalan Besar Stadium
100 Tyrwhitt Rd, Singapore
Content 4-a-side Mini Soccer Festival
Number of Match: 3 Matches Each Teams
Duration of Match: 10 min. (No Halftime)
Pitch:20m X 12m 8 Pitches
Target Teams made up of 4-8 under-6 preschool participants.
Both boys and girls welcome.
No prior experience required.
Entry Fee Free-of Charge
Organiser Japan Football Association
Host Association The Football Association of Singapore
Title Sponsor UNIQLO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
Emcee YOKOI Reiko
Volunteer Staff Football Association of Singapore and UNIQLO Singapore
Mascot character Football Association of Singapore official Cubs programme mascot "Sparky" & "Twinkle"
PR JFA website "JFA.jp" and FAS website starting October 22.
6 Japanese Kindergartens (Albirex Singapore), 23 UNIQLO Stores: Flyer and Poster
Application Period Friday, October 23 / 8:00am – Wednesday, October 28 / 5:00pm (Local Time)
First-come, first-served basis.
Application Method JFA UNIQLO SOCCER KIDS Application Form on JFA website "JFA.jp"

Soccer families

 TeamsMenWomenTotal
Number of participants 44 203 51 254
Audience   500
Staff    74
Total    828

Event Schedule

Sun. 31 May Ibaraki Kashima Soccer Stadium 9th, 9 consecutive years
Sat. 20 June Okinawa Okinawa City Stadium 4th, after 2 years
Sat. 27 June Hyogo Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium 2nd, after 11 years since the event
at Kobe Wing Stadium 
(currently Noevir Stadium) in 2004
Mon. 20 July Aichi Nagoya Dome 4th, 4 consecutive years
Tue. 22 September Fukuoka Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome 13th, 13 consecutive years
Mon. 12 October Toyama Toyama Athletic Stadium 5th, 4 consecutive years
Sat. 17 October Fukui Sabae City East Park Athletic Stadium 3rd, after 2 years
Sun. 25 October Tokyo Tokyo Dome 4th, 4 consecutive years
Sat. 7 November Singapore Jalan Besar Stadium 2nd, 2 consecutive years
Sat. 21 November Saitama Seibu Prince Dome 5th, 5 consecutive years
Sat. 28 November Kumamoto Umakana Yokana Stadium 9th, 9 consecutive years
Sat. 5 December Hokkaido Sapporo Dome 10th, 9 consecutive years
Sun. 20 December Yamaguchi Yamaguchi Kirara Expo Memorial Park
Multipurpose Dome
2nd, 2 consecutive years

*The same event will be organised in Kanagawa as well as Osaka by March 2016.
*The information about event sites, summaries and participants recruitment will be announced on the official website of JFA "JFA.jp".

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