The 31st All Japan High School Women's Football Championship will kick-off on Friday 30 December 2022. Here we bring you the high school story of MIYAZAWA Hinata (Mynavi Sendai Ladies), who plays for Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team).

○This interview was conducted online on 22 December 2022

The disappointment felt on the dream stage

MIYAZAWA Hinata is a member of Mynavi Sendai Ladies and is also a promising attacker for the next generation of Nadeshiko Japan. She was first called up to Nadeshiko Japan's training camp in January 2018, when she was a student at Seisa International High School Shonan, shortly after suffering being eliminated at the first round of the 26th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship. Miyazawa, who had been a regular member of the national team for each age group and had shown impressive performance at the world stage, says the All Japan High School Women's Football Championship remains as a memory of mixed feelings of fun, joy, and frustration.

Miyazawa has been kicking a football for as long as she can remember under the influence of her brother, who is three years older than her. The girl who "has pictures of her small body holding a big ball" began to take up football seriously at Mukoda SC in her hometown of Minami Ashigara, Kanagawa, when she went to primary school. She then decided to join OSA Rhea FC U-15 after being approached by the club's coach at a tournament when she was playing with a pink hairband "in admiration of KAWASUMI Nahomi (NJ/NY Gotham FC)."

OSA Rhea FC U-15 is a subordinate team of OSA Rhea FC (now SEISA OSA Rhea Shonan FC), with Seisa International High School Shonan being the equivalent of their U-18 team. For Miyazawa, who until then had played football with boys, this was her first contact with the world of women's football. As the school year progressed, her desire to get better and be selected for the national team grew, so it was only natural for her to enrol at Seisa International High School Shonan in 2015.

Seisa International Shonan is a correspondence high school, but Miyazawa enrolled in the women's football course and spent her days at the Oiso campus, attending classes in the morning and training on the field in the afternoon. In addition to the trainings with the school's football team, she also took part in the trainings of the top team, OSA Rhea FC, which she recalls, “it felt like I was on the training ground all day.”

Miyazawa, who has been a starting player since joining the school, competed in the 24th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship in 2015 wearing number nine. In junior high school she often played up top or as the defensive midfielder, but in high school she became a mainstay on the left and right wing, where her speed, dribbling, and ability to exploit the open space became a major weapon for the team. The previous year, Miyazawa had cheered on Seisa International Shonan in their first appearance at the 23rd tournament and witnessed the team's first tournament victory, which prompted a strong desire for her to play an active role on this stage as well.

In their first match against Chinzei Gakuin High School, Miyazawa, who says "I usually don't get nervous and am more excited to see what I can do against my opponents," was delighted to play in front of a large crowd and enjoyed herself on the pitch. However, the match ended scoreless after 80 minutes, and entered into a penalty shoot-out.

She stood by as the fifth kicker after being told by Coach KARASAWA Shunsuke, “Hinata, you are the fifth kicker.” However, after the third player, then-captain KAWAKURA Airi, missed her spot kick and all five opponents successfully converted theirs, Miyazawa's turn did not come around. “I wonder what would have happened if it had been my turn, but we lost before I even had a chance to kick the ball. I wanted to play as long as possible in the Seisa International Shonan uniform with the senior players, so it was very frustrating.”

Overcoming hardship to compete in her second Championship

Miyazawa entered her second year with a strong desire for redemption, and her activities outside the team also gained more attention. Having contributed for the team's runners-up finish in the AFC U16 Women’s Championship in the previous year, she was selected to participate in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Jordan 2016™.

She recalls that while she was happy to be able to compete with top-level players in her age group and to be able to give back her experience to the team, “there were many conflicts as I had to leave the team during an important period when we were building up, which was difficult, and I remember getting reprimanded by my coach.” After overcoming such a difficult time that "when I went home and saw my mother's face, I burst into tears and cried," she and her team qualified for the 25th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship. Their opponents in the first round was the formidable Hinomoto Gakuen High School, a match that Miyazawa says, "I remember this match very vividly."

“Seisa International Shonan's style of football was based on ball possession, and we were able to score goals in that match while pressing the opponents back. It felt like we were able to execute what we were supposed to do as a team.”

As Miyazawa reflected, Seisa International Shonan dominated Hinomoto Gakuen in the early stages. Miyazawa scored the first goal in the sixth minute, assisted the goal of KATO Momo in the 24th minute, before adding another goal in the 26th minute.

“I honestly didn't feel like we were going to lose. I had the feeling that we would win,” she said, but perhaps that thought led her to let her guard down. Hinomoto Gakuen rallied back to tie the game 3-3, which forced the match into a penalty shoot-out, where Miyazawa was distracted by the words of the opposing team's players.

Continue reading Vol.2

The 31st All Japan High School Women's Football Championship

Tournament Dates: Fri. 30 December 2022 - Sun. 8 January 2023
Venues: Miki Sogo Bosai Park, Goshikidai Sports Park, Ibuki Forest Football Ground, Noevir Stadium Kobe
*All in Hyogo Prefecture

Tournament Information