The SPORT FOR TOMORROW（SFT） South Asia - Japan U-16 Football Exchange Programme will be held from Saturday 11 to Tuesday 14 March in Colombo, Sri Lanka as part of the international contribution programme supervised by the Japanese government. The U-16 national teams from Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan and U-15 Japan National Team will participate in the programme.

Each representative team held an official practice session at the Racecourse Ground, the official match site, after arriving in Sri Lanka on Friday 10 March. Then they attended the match coordination meeting and appeared at a press conference held at the headquarter of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka. Coaches have been officially dispatched by the Japan Football Association (JFA) to Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan for their respective national teams, and they had an opportunity to meet and gather at the event site.

During the reception, the U-16 Bhutan National Team sang popular Japanese song “EIKOU NO KAKEHASHI” by famous Japanese band “YUZU” in Japanese. This performance brought the attendees up to their feet and filled the entire hall with excitement and joy.

Saturday 11 March, the opening day of the championship, will see the first game between U-16 Nepal and U-16 Bhutan and the second match between U-15 Japan and U-16 Sri Lanka.

Comments

LEE Song Jun, Coach (U-16 Bhutan National Team)
I’m very grateful that the U-16 Bhutan National Team has been given the opportunity to participate in this exchange programme. I believe this exchange with the participating members from Japan and other countries in South Asia will be an excellent experience for our players and the entire staff. We are still building the foundations of a sports culture, let alone a football culture, and looking for competitions where we can face new challenges. We will do our best to make the most out of this programme at the same time enjoy this special exchange event. I hope everyone will get to know Bhutanese people a bit shy but with wonderful smiles. We’re still lacking experience, but we’d like to show our enthusiastic and enjoyable style of football.

TAKEDA Chiaki, Technical Director (Football Federation of Nepal)
All the players and coaches are looking forward to this exchange programme. They are particularly enthusiastic about playing against U-15 Japan National Team. Currently, the Nepal National Team selected across the nation have been holding a training camp where they practice every day.

Due to a shortage of coaches, we are still struggling to catch up with the top national football teams. I do desire that the Nepalese players and coaches will learn as much as possible through this programme in order to further aid the development of football in Nepal.

SUZUKI Chikashi, Coach (U-16 Sri Lanka National Team)
Football in Sri Lanka has been struggling for a long time due to civil war. National teams in each category have not earned a win in any international competitions for the past few years. Thanks to the JFA’s support, we established an academy this year in order to come through this difficult time and nurture young players. I believe all the players and staff of U-16 Sri Lanka National Team will directly experience high-level games in Asia through this exchange programme. I am certain that this will be a major trigger for the development of Sri Lankan football. As a coach of the Sri Lanka youth team, I believe this exchange will be a precious opportunity for me to learn new methods of coaching the younger generation.

SPORT FOR TOMORROW（SFT） South Asia - Japan U-16 Football Exchange Programme

11 March 2017(Sat.)～14 March 2017(Tue.)
Racecourse Ground（Colombo, Sri Lanka）

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