In this Elite Programme, participants will play as U-14 national squad in “AFC U-14 Girls Regional Championship 2014 （East region）” in Beijing, China. China, South Korea, North Korea, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Hong Kong, Japan and Chinese Taipei will play in this Championship. The countries will compete in two leagues of 4 with the top 2 countries from each league will move on to the final tournament. The following is the match schedule for Japan in the first group league:

Friday, 30 May, 14:00: vs Guam
Saturday, 31 May, 17:00: vs D.P.R. Korea
Sunday, 1 June, 17:00 vs China

Players met at Narita Airport at 13:30, 28 May and they arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport at 20:00 on the same day. Beijing time is one-hour behind Japan time. It was 22:30 when they arrived at China National Football Training Centre, the venue of this Championship located 1.5 hours drive from the airport. After checking-in and moving their luggage to their rooms, they went straight to sleep; it was a tiring day for the players to have the journey from their home all the way to the hotel in China. This is their first visit to China. Tomorrow they will start preparative training sessions for the Championship; getting ready for the hot weather of Beijing.

Comments

DOHI Honoka, Niigata prefecture, Albirex Niigata Ladies U-15
Since this is my first time to travel abroad, I had many situations after arriving at the airport where I had to consider very well what to do.
I learned from the journey from the airport to this venue that having a good consideration to choose ways to make things go smoother and better is important which is usually something which I do not consider much in my daily life. I want to observe things better to be a proactive and responsible thinker.
In this championship, I know that there are physically bigger players, but I will do my best not to be out muscled by the bigger players and making the most of what I did from the core muscle training sessions. Also I want to be involved in the match by being very active; I want to contribute to Japan’s winning the Championship by playing very well both up front and in any other positions.

HAYASHI Suzuka, Fukuoka prefecture, Oeste Fukuoka U15
This is my first time playing in a foreign country. I am excited to play with many people from different countries. Throughout the trip, we are required to think proactively. This time I would like to try to have better communication with people since I am not good at talking. On the pitch, I want to show that I have good vision of play while I move around on the pitch. I want to learn a lot of things from this trip in China. I want to challenge a lot of things here, it is much better than trying nothing.
Also, I remember all the people who supported us to come here: family, bus drivers, coaches, all the other staff and local people from Fukuoka. I want to play well for all of them, showing appreciation for their support.