Starting from 14 October, the JFA Elite Programme U-14 Japan Women's Selection headed into the final day just as it passed in a moment. With the Korea Republic team heading back home, all the Japanese players pledged with them to see again in the next stage. Later, the Japanese squad wrapped up their camp with a 90-minute training session.

At the closing meeting, coach Yodokawa said to them, "Some players took part in the elite programme six times and some others joined for the first time in this past two years. But even after you go back to your team, I want each of you to keep building up the experiences you gained here." He concluded, "The next opportunity to get together (at the national level) in this age group is at the national training centre women's U-14. I hope you work hard in your area and come back to our next activity. You will get more chances afterwards, but whether you can grab it depends on yourself. I want you to show how much you have grown in this elite programme when you get back to your area or team so that hopefully your coaches will tell you that they are happy that they let you join this camp."

And the squad looked back the camp from the first day with video footage that goalkeeper coach Todoroki created. The video also showed their activities in the Canon Girls Camp, the Imabari camp, the Korea Republic trip, this year's Shiga camp and the AFC U-14 Girls Area Championship. "You experience good times and bad times. Not getting dejected, you've got to believe in yourself and what you've done. There aren’t any special tips to get in better form. Just focus on daily efforts you make," said Yodokawa at the end.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

YODOKAWA Tomoharu, Coach (JFA National Training Centre Coach)
Starting with the JFA Elite Programme U-13 Canon Girls Camp, our programme consisting of six different activities and events, where the girl’s footballers born in 2002 – the year of the Japan-Korea World Cup – took part in, came to an end with this Japan-Korea exchange programme. This time, a total of 20 players took part in the programme, including players who had joined every time and who took part in after a while as well as six new faces. It's too bad four players got injured and ended up leaving the camp early, but the players who had come to every activity took the leadership. And I found how much they grew, looking at their attitude to try to build up this camp for themselves.

Under the theme of "Step for the next," we focused on quality of skills and individual tactics on both offence and defence. In two international matches against Korea Republic and a training match against high school students, they showed challenges to bring out what they had done in training. I strongly felt that hopefully they would keep it up in their daily training after this camp. Regardless of the number of times they took part in, we all were able to find a lot of achievements and problems to work on thanks to the players working hard every time and staff members supporting us to live up to players' passion. I want the players to focus on their daily efforts they make and hopefully they can bring them out in the future. I would like to give gratitude to the staff members and players for their brilliant work with me.

TODOROKI Natsuko, Goalkeeper Coach (JFA National Training Centre Coach/Cerezo Osaka)
It was the last activity of the 6-session elite programme that we carry out with this generation. Every player was taking aggressive approaches in training, matches and a variety of other programmes. I found a lot of players' changes and growth during the camp. Their attitude to "observe, feel and act," was more prominent as the programme went on and they grew in various aspects in this past two years. To take advantage of the various experiences in this elite programme for their future, I want them to keep it up with high aspirations.

YAMAMOTO Yuzuki (NIPPON TV MENINA)
In the friendlies, I was able to experience the pace and power that are different from Japanese teams. In specific, I learned how they were hard on the ball and the fact that we needed to make a quicker decision against opponents who came very physically to rob the ball. At the farewell party, we were not able to understand the language but enjoyed the time with Korean players, using gestures and English. And we both showed some stage performances and that boosted the party. I will continue to try my best so that I can see the peers who spent the fun time together.

Among the six elite programmes, I took part in three of them: the first one Canon Girls Camp, the Korea trip and this Japan-Korea exchange programme. I wasn't able to communicate well at the beginning. I failed to build a relationship with my teammates off the pitch and to work aggressively. But this time, I was able to communicate with them and spent a very fruitful time. Talking about what I do on the pitch, I was able to grow both mentally and physically and brush up my skills through the two international matches. I won't forget this experience in the elite camp and will work hard to grow more by staying aware of my attitude both on and off the pitch.

ISHIDA Kokona (Mashiki Renaissance Kumamoto F.C Phoenix)
We were nice to each other with the Korea team outside the matches, but in the matches they came out with intense play, committing themselves. I learned a lot on the skill side. We got a 2-1 win in the first match, but in terms of battles on the ball, passing quality and pace, we were not better than them. We weren't able to play our game in the first half. On the other hand, in the second match, we are successful in passing in the first half and won battles on the ball even though we lost the match. I also tried to go up aggressively and did coaching for my teammates throughout the second half. For the sake of the teammates who left the camp because of injury, all the 16 players fired ourselves up before coming out to the pitch.

Through the six days, we not only had an enjoyable time with the Korea team but also were able to develop ourselves, and I also found the next goal. I will make efforts more than anybody to achieve the goal, and hopefully I can join the U-15 camp next year. I took part in the programmes four times since I was in U-13s. I met a lot of peers and grew a lot through training. I will try to work on daily training with high aspirations.

NAKATSURU Ayana (Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Junior High School SC)
In this camp, I've found what I need to improve and it turned out to be a very good experience. In the matches against Korea Republic, I couldn't play my game at all because they were different from Japanese teams in pace and intensity. There were a lot of things I couldn't do, but I've got a few things I was able to do. I will take those things back to my team and try to improve them. I tried hard to get though what I wanted to say using gestures when we had an exchange opportunity with Koreans even though we couldn't understand each other's language. The language barrier is a tough thing, but I enjoyed the time by communicating in various ways. I will try to take advantage of what I learned in this past six days and utilise it for my future, and hopefully I can play with this squad again.

Schedule

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