The Vermont Cup All Japan U-12 Futsal Championship is changing. Previous competitions were held in January, but will now be held in August. The championship will now be the Futsal event of summer. The opening day is 14 August; U-12 futsal players will compete to be the champion of all futsal teams in Japan. 

48 teams from all over Japan will play in the championship. Prior to this event, there were regional competitions and Hokkaido had the highest number of teams for this qualifier. The 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups of 4 teams for the first round, and then the 4 top teams from the first round will qualify for the knock-out final tournament. 

In South America and Europe, futsal is as popular as football. In fact many of squad players of Brazil and Spain used to play futsal as well as football when they were younger. There are quite a few professional players who used to play only futsal and gradually shifted to football as they grew up.

The former Japan’s National Team Coach Zico also recommended futsal. “Japanese kids should have more chance to play futsal.”

There are many popular professional football and futsal players who have played in this championship. For example, ONO Shinji of Consadole Sapporo was chosen as a best player of the championship in the 1st championship.

At that time, Ono played for Numazu FC (Shizuoka) and the team was beaten by Yomiuri Soccer Club Youth S (Tokyo), which had KOGURE Kenichiro, who was a former futsal Japan’s National Team player, and the current Shriker Osaka Coach. 

Additionally, the are more squad players and professional players who experienced this championship when they were U-12 such as: AOKI Takuya (Urawa Reds), SAITO Manabu (Yokohama F・Marinos), HIGASHI Keigo (F.C. Tokyo), SHIBASAKI Gaku (Kashima Antlers), and NAKAJIMA Shoya (F.C. Tokyo). At this championship, there will be talented players who may be future SAMURAI BLUE players. 

The matches of U-12 players competing to be the top of Japan will be exciting. The venues are Komazawa Olympic Park Gymnasium and Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. It won’t matter if the weather will be very hot or rainy; they are indoor pitches hence the audience will be more relaxed to enjoy watching matches. Please come and watch the future football leaders of Japan. 

Vermont Cup All Japan U-12 Futsal Championship

Fri. 14 August - Sun. 16 August
Tokyo/Komazawa Olympic Park Gymnasium、Ota-City General Gymnasium
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