Day three of the SPORT FOR TOMORROW South America- Japan U-21 Football Exchange Programme has arrived.

On day two, Thursday 22 March, the delegates’ leader YAMAMOTO Masakuni payed a visit to the Embassy of Japan to join a luncheon at the ambassador’s residence.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary ISHIDA Naohiro, the Councillor ISAKA Takeshi, and the Political and Cultural Attaché KASAI Ryotaro made their appearance from the Embassy. The luncheon proceeded under a relaxed atmosphere as the participants exchanged ideas to further cultivate the friendly relations between Japan and Paraguay through football, ahead of next year’s 100th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

On day three, Friday 23 March, the pre-event seminar for the Girls-Festival scheduled for the following day took place.

At the seminar, 10 female coaches from the Paraguayan Football Association, 10 representatives from Paraguayan clubs, one female coach from the Chilean Football Federation and one female coach from the Uruguayan Football Association participated, as they all listened in carefully to JFA National Training Centre Coach YAMAGUCHI Saori. During the seminar, participants asked many questions regarding the festival, demonstrating the high level of interests.

Match results from this day are as follow:

1st Match: U-21 Paraguay National Team　1-1 (1-1, PK: 5-6) U-21 Chile National Team
2nd Match: U-21 Japan National Team　3-3 (2-1, PK: 4-1) U-21 Venezuela National Team

Comments

Mirian BAEZ (Paraguayan Football Association)
I am very thankful for this great opportunity. There aren’t many chances to listen to professional coaches, so it was a great experience. Through this seminar, I learned the importance of coaching with fun. I think the key factor is going to be how we convey the fun to others. I hope more lectures like this will take place in Paraguay.

Irma CUEVAS (Club Guarani/Paraguay)
This was my first time attending a seminar as a coach, and it was very informative. The idea to coach differently based on levels and age groups for young players was refreshing to me. I have also learned that we can teach many other things through sports, such as how to respect others and how to keep yourself motivated during the game. I’d also like to point out that the handouts given out at the seminar was very helpful, as it contained many information including specific coaching instructions that will be conducted during the festival. In order to raise the level of women’s football in Paraguay, we must start making these kind of efforts from younger age-groups.

Valeria LUCCA (Audax Club Sportivo Italiano/Chile)
Through this seminar, I got to interact with coaches from various locations and coaches working under different environments. The lecture contained many contents that I have never encountered, so it was a great learning experience. It also reminded me the importance to make kids use their head, as our job is not restricted to just coaching techniques. I would like to take back what I learned here and share it with my players. I am looking forward for the festival.

What is SPORT FOR TOMORROW?

"SPORT FOR TOMORROW" is an international sports contribution program which is propelled by the Japanese government, taking place between 2014 and 2020. It originated from the words of the Prime Minister of Japan, ABE Shinzo, at the IOC meeting when Tokyo was elected as host city of 2020 Summer Olympics. The program’s main purpose is to convey the value of sports and expand the Olympic/Paralympic movement to all generations, across 100+ nations and 10 million+ people.