Japan school football breeds future stars

The tournament is thriving after more than 100 years

TOKYO:

Japan's national high school football tournament is thriving after more than 100 years, attracting huge crowds, millions watching on TV and breeding future stars, despite professional clubs trying to lure away young talent.

The annual tournament kicked off on Saturday and is still regarded as the pinnacle of amateur football with young players dreaming of playing in the final in front of tens of thousands at the National Stadium in Tokyo.

Matches are a massive occasion for the whole school as student cheering squads wave flags, bang drums and roar on their teams in a spectacle of noise and colour.

"All the teams are at a similar level of technical ability so it's about who wants to win the most," 18-year-old Junpei Fukuda, the leader of Ryutsukeizai University Kashiwa High School's cheering squad, told AFP.

"We want our voices to be the loudest."

Unlike in Europe, where young players are snapped up by professional club academies, high school football in Japan still attracts elite talent.

Many go on to the professional game and play for their country with current Japan stars such as Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate of Celtic and Crystal Palace's Daichi Kamada all having played high school football.

The landscape has begun to change in recent years, with more top young players turning their backs on the high school game and joining the youth teams of top-flight J. League clubs instead.

The school tournament's quality has taken a hit as a result, but its magic endures for many.

Ryutsukeizai Kashiwa midfielder Kanaru Matsumoto, who will turn professional with the J. League's Shonan Bellmare next year, said the tournament was "the stage I've aspired to play on ever since I was little".

"The main reason I came to this school was because I thought I could play at the national high school tournament here," the 17-year-old said.