The GK Girls Camp entered the third day on 28 August after cold rain fell down on the second day. The fourth training, beginning in the afternoon of 26, had a game-style practice as the players tried to execute what they learned during the camp before finishing their three-day camp.

In the night of the second day, Nadeshiko Japan's goalkeeper coach MAEDA Nobuhiro gave a lecture on goalkeeping performances in the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015, and the players got greatly inspired. Through the goalkeeper-only camp which they rarely can experience, there were some moments where the young girls shared how they are with their own club and what they struggle with.

The four-a-year women's goalkeeper camp ended a series of their activity of the year. The coaches said at the last meeting to the players, "It's a big advantage for you to learn here in this camp. But whether you can take advantage of it is up to how you live your life after going back to your team."

* The camp was formerly called as the Super Girls Project, which was renamed in 2015 as the Girls goalkeeper Camp and is still being continued.

GK Coaches' Comment

TODOROKI Natsuko, GK Coach (JFA National Training Centre Coach)
Although there were seven newly participating players in the training camp, they opened up to their teammates and were aggressively working on training in a lively mood. The junior high girls went through a physical test and game-style practice on the first day, attacking and breakaway drills on the second day and drills for crosses on the third day.

The players repeated trial-and-error approaches and were enthusiastic about training. They also had positive attitudes off the pitch, which proved their growth even during only three days.

We found what to improve in "quality of controlling, kicking and throwing," "predicting, positioning and judging while grasping what the situation is like" and "spatial perception." I want them to be aware of such points and keep up their training with strong mind.I appreciate a lot of people for their continuous support for this camp.

Players' Comments 

MASAKI Yumi (NJSS)
I hadn't had so many opportunities to take part in a camp like this, so I started the camp with observing moves of players around me and finding out what I'm supposed to do. When looking around me during training, I found different kinds of players for example, those who were calling out aloud or who were running to space to play how they wanted to play. I tried to think about where to position myself to help such players play more easily.

At a meeting, our coach said "high motive" is important. I want to be a player who can play consistently at a high level and who can make a right judgement for any kind of balls coming. To achieve that, I will see plays of various players, think about such plays, and continue football with strong determination.

HAYASHI Momoka (Aosaki S.C. Hanako Clover's)
The good side that I found after finishing the Girls GK Camp was that I was able to take continuous challenges by communicating with lots of people. And even though I failed, I thought about "why couldn't I get it done?" And then, I was able to improve that for the next. 

What I need to do from now on is to strengthen my kicking power and improving kicking quality. I will try to improve them by practising more and more. And I will take advantage of what I learned here for my performance in my team. I will train with my team and try to improve the part I wasn't able to do.

KATO Anzu (FC Fervor MIMOSA)
I learned a lot of things out of the Girls GK Camp. I tended to kick the ball too rough and ended up conceding a goal after giving away the ball to opponents. But in this camp, I learned I wouldn't go up to next level unless I improve my kicking accuracy. 

I will work hard on training to get ready for the next time when I'm called up again. I also learned another thing. I often got to the falling spot of the ball too early so that I ended up being at the same spot with my teammate or dropping the ball. To improve that, I learned that I need to take a close look at the ball and practise over and over so that I can sharpen my senses and surely catch the ball.

Schedule