On Sunday 24 November, the Japan Football Association (JFA) held the drawing ceremony of the 28th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship at the Virtual Stadium located inside the Japan Football Museum.

Ahead of the event, JFA Vice President IWAGAMI Kazumichi took the podium to give a speech towards the participating 32 teams of this tournament. “Last year, I went to see the final of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France, where the U-20 Japan Women's National Team won the title, giving Japan the Women’s World Cup title at each category, U-17, U-20, and the senior team. Only Japan has accomplished such feat and the Japanese women’s football is well respected from the world. We hope to keep this trend with the Tokyo Olympics scheduled next year and the women’s professional league kicking off the year after. We are also bidding to bring the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 in Japan. If we can continue on this trend, we should see further developments in women’s football. I would like each player to play with the responsibility to bring the Japanese women’s football to new heights.”

The tournament drawings took place afterwards, as representatives from each school took turns to draw a number from a box. The fixture between Shutoku High School (Kanto2/Tokyo), who is making their 10th consecutive tournament appearance, and AICJ High School (Chugoku3/Hiroshima), who will be making their tournament debut, was the first fixture to be set in the bracket, as other fixtures followed.

The crowd erupted when the fixture between the Kanto champions, Maebashi Ikuei High School (Kanto1/Gunma) and three time national champions, Hinomoto Gakuen Senior High School (Kansai1/Hyogo), was determined. Along with these two teams, defending champions, Seisa Kokusai High School Shonan Campus (Kanto3/Kanagawa), this year’s Inter-High School Champions, Jumonji Senior High School (Kanto5/Tokyo), Okayama Sakuyo High School (Chugoku1/Okayama), and Fujieda Junshin High School (Tokai2/Shizuoka) were locked into the same block of the bracket to compete for one semi-final spot.

Last year’s runners-up, Tokiwagi Gakuen High School (Tohoku1/Miyagi) will face Osaka Gakugei Senior High School (Kansai3/Osaka), while last year’s semi-finalist, Tokai University Fukuoka Senior High School (Kyushu2/Fukuoka) is set to face Japan Aviation High School (Kanto4/Yamanashi).

The 28th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship will take place from Friday 3 to Sunday 12 January 2020.

Players' Comments

MITANI Wakana (Jumonji Senior High School)
We will be facing a regular member of the national competition, but we have done everything within our power to prepare for this tournament, so we just have to play with confidence and showcase our best performance on the pitch. As this year’s Inter-High School Champions, opponents like Okayama Sakuyo High School and Hinomoto Gakuen Senior High School will be seeking for revenge at this tournament. However, as long as we stay aggressive and showcase our usual performance, we should be okay. With over 80 players belonging to our team, it is hard to unite the entire team as one, but when our team is facing the same direction, we can become a strong force to be reckoned with. Our school strives to nurture well-rounded students, and the players have worked hard to maintain a high level in both sports and academics, so in that sense, our players are all facing the same direction.

NAGAE Ibuki (Fujieda Junshin High School)
In order to achieve our goal of winning the national title, we must win against strong teams sooner or later. With so many strong teams within our block, it gives us extra motivation to do well. This fixture should allow us to prepare well for the first match. Our team has experienced both highs and lows, as we won the tournament two years ago, but lost in the first round last year. We were also eliminated from this year’s Inter-High School Championship in the first round as well, so we hope to finish the season with a win at this championship. This year’s team has shown great heart to win the ball and we have been communicating well among the team. We hope to showcase our strengths at this tournament.

NAIYA Shizuku (Seisa Kokusai High School Shonan Campus)
Of course, we are striving to win back to back titles, but for now, we must focus on the match ahead of us. We must also not forget that we are only able to play football because of all the support we are getting from the people surrounding us, so we must play with a sense of gratitude towards everyone. As the team captain, I am not sure if I can unite the team as one, but each player is aware of their jobs, so we hope to work hard together towards our first match. At the first round, we will be facing a team we have never faced before, and we don’t know how they are going to play against us, so we will prepare ourselves to showcase our usual football style and win the match.

HIKIDA Shuka (AICJ High School)
Every team competing at this tournament is strong, so we were prepared to face any team, but I was surprised when we drew against Shutoku. We will spend the next month to prepare ourselves for this match. We are a team with just 13 players, so I believe our team bond is stronger than other teams. The team has just launched last year and started to compete in tournaments from this year, so it was great to see our team win through the Hiroshima qualifiers. Although I am still in my first year in high school, age does not matter when we are on the pitch, so I will give my very best effort to win our matches. Our goal is to win through the first round. We hope to showcase a performance that can move people’s hearts.

The 28th All Japan High School Women's Football Championship

Tournament Dates: Fri. 3 - Sun. 12 January 2020
Tournament Venue: Miki Sogo Bosai Park Athletic Field (Miki, Hyogo), Goshikidai Sports Park (Sumoto, Hyogo), Ibuki Forest Football Ground (Kobe, Hyogo), Noevir Stadium Kobe (Kobe, Hyogo)

Tournament Information