U-16 Japan Women's National Team short-listed squad, who are gearing up for the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship 2015 in Wuhan, China, next month, began a training camp in Kagoshima on 5 October.

On the first day, which was a little chilly but had a brilliant autumn clear sky, the players started with jogging. Then they added an ice break to warm their bodies up.

After that, they were divided into the defensive corps, which included the goalkeepers, and the offensive corps. The defensive group went through a practical 3-on-3 training in a half court, led by the goalkeeper coach KOBAYASHI Shinobu. Being conscious about the linkage between the goalkeeper and defenders, they attempted to bring the ball forward. The offensive group brought the ball to the goal, connecting passes between cones that were set before the goal. The players tried to be aware that they would add three, four players as they would proceed.

In the end, they played a mini game in which four to five players formed a side, using a half pitch to wrap up the first day.

Players' Comments

TAKAHASHI Hana (Urawa Reds Ladies Youth)
We have the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship to compete for a berth in the U-17 Women's World Cup in a month. We have games against a boys' high school team and a boys' junior high team scheduled during this camp, and in order to qualify through the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship, we would like to have a lot of challenges so we can correct our issues.

In our meeting, we watched a video from the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, and realized that we would have a lot more things to be able to compete internationally. So we would like to give all-out in this camp.

UEKI Riko (Nippon TV Menina)
Because it was the first day for our camp, we focused on practice menus that themed around our communication and strategies. I think I want to keep doing trainings for agility and communicating from my daily training. In our night meeting, we watched a video from the Women's World Cup and restudied the world's football standard as well as the strengths and issues of Japan.

I think that it will be very important that we develop our level as a team as well as each individual makes a progress throughout this camp, in order to compete on par with the world going forward. So we would like to tackle everything we do as the whole team. We have little time until the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship, so we would like to make these four days as fruitful as possible.

KAWAKITA Miku (Tokiwagi Gakuen High School)
As I have been called for the U-16 Women's National Team for the first time this time, I was a little nervous at first, but once the training began, I was able to have some fun, and my jitters went away. I could notice so many things like my own skills, having wider vision and shooting accuracy throughout the training.

We played many games in which we changed our formations, and it was hard for me to keep up, but I realized the significances of communicating and first defence. I would like to raise my skill level and absorb from other players as much as I can in this camp.

Schedule

Note: The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.