On Sunday 13 January, the JFA 9th U-15 Japan Women’s Futsal Championship began its heated contests at Mie Prefectural Sun Arena. The first-round matches were played on the first day, deciding the four teams advancing to the final round.

The nine participating teams were separated into three groups in the opening round and played in a round-robin format. Each group leaders, along with the top second-place finisher were to make up the final four teams advancing to the final round.

It was the defending champions, Jumonji Junior High School (Kanto/Tokyo) who finished atop in Group A. Despite allowing the early lead to Club Fields Linda (Hokkaido), they went onto rally back to grab a 3-2 victory in their first match. The deciding match came when the two teams with one win apiece faced each other as Jumonji Junior High squared off against FC. Fervor. Mimosa (Tokai/Aichi). The match saw Jumonji going on to a scoring spree from the beginning to win it 5-1, safely securing their spot into the next round with two straight wins.

The competition was much more intense at Group B. In the first match, Seagull Hiroshima Ladies (Chugoku/Hiroshima) defeated HKSC Lindoze Kirishima (Kyushu/Kagoshima) 4-3 to take the initial lead. The next match between Joy Qualiant (Kansai/Shiga) and Lindoze Kirishima featured many fireworks as Lindoze took down the action-packed match with a final score of 7-6. The third match was between Seagull Hiroshima and Joy Qualiant, who were both in contention to advance to the final round. Despite showing great persistency to erase a two-goal deficit, Joy Qualiant failed to score the go-ahead goal to end the match in a 2-2 draw. As a result, Seagull Hiroshima managed to win out of Group B with a total of four points.

Three-time champions Fukui Maruoka Ruck (Hokushinetsu/Fukui) showed their dominance in Group C. Despite lacking their usual composure to concede the opening goal to Akita L.F.C (Tohoku/Akita), the Fukui side went onto a scoring spree, as YAMAZAKI Suzuna scored five goals while KATO Honoka registered a hat-trick, to cruise to a 11-1 rout. As they beat Azalea Pedreria (Shikoku/Kagawa) 5-1 in the following match with three more goals scored by Yamazaki, Fukui Maruoka Ruck marched on to the next round.

It was Group B’s Lindoze Kirishima, who captured the wild card slot as they finished with the best record among the runners-up of each group.

The semi-finals will be held on Monday 14, where Seagull Hiroshima Ladies will play against Fukui Maruoka Ruck, while Jumonji Junior High School takes on HKSC Lindoze Kirishima. Both matches are scheduled to kick off at 9:30, before the two winners will clash at the final scheduled at 12:20 on the same day.

Coaches and Players' Comments

OTAKI Osamu, Coach (Jumonji Junior High School)
We seemed a little tense in the first match, but we managed to showcase what we are capable of in the second match. Last year, we had players with great individual talents, but this year we don’t have that kind of players. But we have worked hard in this past year to play together, which was shown in our second match. Whether we are playing football or futsal, are main focus has always been on the transition between offence and defence. I have stressed the importance to chase the ball after losing possession of the ball so that we don’t allow our opponents to play freely. With futsal being played on a small court, we face many situations like that, and it becomes a great training method for playing football as well. We will give our best to defend our title.

UMETSUJI Daisuke, Coach (Joy Qualiant)
We managed to score two goals at the end with our power-play, in which we practiced on for a little while, but that was not enough. We did our best to come from behind, but we were denied by a solid team. With our team consisting many small players, we polished our decision makings and techniques to compete, but we ended up losing in a physical battle, so that was pretty disappointing.

KAMEDA Rio (Azalea Pedreria)
We have worked hard so that we can showcase what we have been working on at the national tournament. We all looked nervous at first, but we kept on telling each other to give our very best so that we don’t leave any regrets. We gave everything we’ve got, so we have no regrets. Maruoka showed great foot skills and their high-pressure made it tough for us to play our game. This was my last official futsal and football match. I hope the best for the younger grade players.

OBA Rina (Akita L.F.C.)
For the third graders, this was their final tournament. We were able to enter the match with a great atmosphere and we managed to showcase one of our best performance ever. It was great to see our player fight until the very end. After scoring that one goal, we got eager to score more goals, which led our defence to get a bit looser. I don’t know if I will continue playing football nor futsal. I have a dream of becoming a nurse, so if I decide to pursue that dream, this might have been my last match. However, I am grateful for my team and I am glad I was part of such wonderful team.

JFA 9th U-15 Japan Women’s Futsal Championship

Tournament Dates: Sun. 13 & Mon. 14 January 2019
Tournament Venue: Mie Prefectural Sun Arena

Tournament Information