The 5th and 6th term players of JFA Academy Fukushima Women experienced training in Europe from 9 to 22 March.

Thirteen players of 5th and 6th were divided in to 4 groups and joined 3 clubs in Germany and 1 in Spain: Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Wolfsburg, MSV Duisburg from German Bundesliga, and RCD Espanyol from Liga espanola.

The players had very good experiences to see European training environments, training menus, and players’ abilities on the pitch, and they could also see differences in history and culture even off the pitch.

Players' Comments

TACHIBANA Yo (5th term student)
It was very productive for me to play in Spain. In terms of football, I had to play wisely making my brain work more than normal when in Japan where we have more skill training. In Spain, even U-12 players were expected to think very well like senior players do. I thought this is why Spanish players control the ball very well; they have lots of training to think well from a younger age. I appreciate all of the people who supported this visit programme.

ASANO Natsumi (5th term student)
I had a lot to learn not only in football but also in cultural aspect by joining this programme in Germany. Especially in football, I had a chance to practice with a stronger and more consistent goalkeeper and that helped me to find out what to do and to motivate myself much more. I could feel the gap between European players and us this time, so I just want to keep working very hard in daily training and football matches to some day in the future be better than the European players.

HIRATA Mai (6th term student)
One of the things I tried this time in Germany was to work hard against speedy and powerful players. What I found most important was prediction. If I can move quicker even after just a step, I can avoid difficult contact with the players and we can move on to the next play much smoother. Also, some of techniques and abilities which we have learned from our daily training in Japan were found to be strong enough, and that made me confident. I want to keep what I learned at this occasion and work hard to improve myself.

IKEDA Mao (6th term student)
In Germany, I found lots of difficulties caused by the physical differences between myself and the European players, for example 1 on 1 training was hard for me. What I paid more attention to during this opportunity was to be flexible and satisfying what I had been expected in each position and team. Playing with German players and world class players was a very good experience for me to learn the differences between these players and myself. Now I want to make great effort to bridge this gap that I found this time.

*Please visit JFA Academy Fukushima’s website for more information about JFA Academy.(Japanese version only)http://fukushima.jfa-academy.jp/
*JFA Academy Fukushima is supported by “toto Sports Promotion Lottery.”