On Thursday 4 April, the short-listed squad of the Japan Women's Universiade National Team started their training camp at Gotemba, Shizuoka. This camp will serve as the final try-out session to determine the final roster for the 30th Summer Universiade Napoli 2019 scheduled to be held in July 2019. The first training session of the camp lasted for 90 minutes where Coach MOCHIZUKI Satoru started off by stating, “Despite this being the final try-out session, I don’t want you to do anything special, just showcase your usual performance.” The coach continued by requested the players to keep in mind of how they would play in an 11 vs 11 match, regardless of the training menu. The training session started with drills to work on their ball touches, followed by pass and control drills, three-on-one drills, and a scrimmage at the end.

Coach Mochizuki held a meeting in the evening, where he addressed the players that he will be looking for players ready to play at the world standards and explained what he demands from the team and the players.

The training camp will be held until Thursday 18, where the team will conduct training matches on Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17.

Coach and Players' Comments

TANAKA Tatsuya, GK Coach (Tokuyama University)
I have addressed the players of the three criteria I will be looking for during this try-out camp. The first criteria are that the player is thinking at the world standards and willing to fight hard on the pitch. Secondly, the player is willing to contribute for the team while showcasing their individual colour. And lastly, they are conscious of how they will be playing in an 11 vs 11 match, regardless of the training menu. I would also like to share the importance to prepare thoroughly for the goalkeepers. In order to compete against the World, we must heighten the quality of our plays to defend the goal, win the ball, and score goals as a team. To achieve our long-cherished goal of earning the gold medal, we hope to make the most of this training camp to heighten the level of each player.

GK YONEZAWA Moeka (Teikyo Heisei University)
The try-out session has begun. The goalkeepers worked on our fundamentals while emphasising on how we should prepare ourselves during the game. We will be playing a training match against a men’s high school team. The opponents will have the advantage in physiques and athleticism, but we will prepare thoroughly to face the match. I will do my best to showcase my full potential in the remaining three days.

MF IBARAKI Mitsuba (Nippon Sport Science University)
I am honoured to be called up to this try-out camp for the Summer Universiade. With a good mix of familiar faces and new players in this short-listed squad, I was able to communicate with my peers and focus on our training session today. This is the final training camp ahead of the main tournament, so I hope to showcase my best performance to be named on the final roster for the tournament.

MF SUZUKI Hinako (Yamanashi Gakuin University)
With this being our first training session of this try-out camp, we focused on communicating with each other and visualising how we would play in an actual match. During the meeting, we discussed what it means to play at the “World Level” and how to cope with players with physical advantages. We will be facing men’s high school teams tomorrow and the day after. As a team, we must think of ways to win the matches against them while playing on the pitch. We only have four days to prove ourselves, so I will give my very best to get myself on the final roster.

Schedule

*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

Future Schedules