All players, staff and coaches of the seven U-14 Women’s National Teams from ASEAN countries visited Nissan Stadium in Yokohama and paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan on 17 March. This is their last day of their stay in Japan.

During the morning, they visited the Nissan Stadium where the final matches of the FIFA World Cup 2002 and the FIFA Club World Cup took place, and they had cruised some of the facilities including locker rooms. Thanks to the stadium staffs, the players had a great opportunity to enter the pitch with the FIFA anthem making them feel the scale of the stadium from its pitch.

In the afternoon, they made a courtesy visit to Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affair Mr. HAMACHI Masakazu, Director-General of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department Mr. NASHIDA Kazuya, and President of Japan International Cooperation Center Ms. YAMANO Sachiko in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. After the welcome message from Mr. HAMACHI, a representative player from Laos made a speech to express gratitude for their support and a memorial uniform was given to Mr. Hamachi.

They then visited the Japan Football Museum and enjoyed taking photos with the winning trophy of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The 6-days programme ended with this visit and they will depart for their countries on 18th. Many of the participating players and staff left positive comments that they had good experiences through this programme.

Players' Comments

Ms.Sontitip Mananya (U-14 Thailand Women’s National Team)
We learned about our weak points through playing against various countries in this tournament. We will overcome our weak points to become a stronger team. Japanese players are powerful even if they are small, and I felt that they can play both defence and offence at other position. It is my first visit to Japan and everything I saw here was new and impressive to me. Although it was a short stay, I had a chance to know about Japanese culture and custom. I’m sure that these experiences will give me a chance for a self-growth and I will contribute to the team’s development.

Ms.Louangamath Phoutsad (U-14 Laos Women’s National Team)
I could visit to Japan thanks to this JENESYS Programme. I was nervous but I am happy.  I am very happy to play against different countries and am proud of this experience.  Our results were not good enough, so we will recover next year.  After going back to Laos, I will have more training to improve my skills.

Staffs' Comments

Ms. DK. Nurizzati Binti PG Arifin (Representative of the delegation of Brunei Darussalam)
Through this programme, we had a chance to learn about club team management, JFA Academy, how to promote women’s football at a national level, and how to develop players. The level of U-14 Japan Women’s National Team is equivalent to professional level in our country. In Japan, various activities in local and school levels are active and there are a lot of leagues which makes up a wonderful pyramid.

In our country, there are only few women’s football teams, and we don’t have any national teams yet. I hope that we can utilise what we learned and experienced here to launch national teams. For this plan, we need understanding and support not only from the Football Association, but also schools, and religious leaders. In Brunei, there is a national women’s rugby team, so hopefully women’s football will be the second one to launch a national team.

Mr. Do Van Nhat (Representative of the delegation of Vietnam)
I think Japan’s football can keep a high status because of the large support from its government and the JFA. I also felt that it is such a wonderful thing that Japanese women have a lot of opportunities to play football.

JENESYS 2015 Japan-ASEAN Girls' U-14 Football Exchange Programme

12 March 2016 - 16 March 2016
Tokinosumika Sports Centre Susono ground

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