Japan Futsal / Football Tour September 2015 PROPOSAL In August of 2014 I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Rinichi Mikami, Director of Go Zamurai Soccer Academy and Mr. Hiro Ikeda, U-14 Coach at Mitsubishi Yowa SC, Tokyo. Mr. Ikeda had travelled to Brisbane from Japan to take a look at our local football structure while here visiting friends. Australian born Rinichi, who is a senior player in the Brisbane Premier League, graduated from the Mitsubishi Yowa SC U18 program before moving back to Australia. He is actively involved with the Japanese community in Brisbane and runs a junior coaching program for both Japanese and local players. Rinichi has close contacts with players and coaches at Mitsubishi Yowa SC along with professional futsal clubs in Tokyo. Rinichi and I discussed my ambition of taking a group of players from Arana United Futsal Club on a cultural tour to Japan and this led to in-depth conversations about how we could make this happen. Rinichi has previously taken Brisbane based players to Japan to attend coaching clinics and to experience their unique football culture. We’ve since had further meetings and have begun making solid plans for a trip to Tokyo during the September school holidays, 2015. The plan is to take 12 boys, aged 14-16yrs, to Tokyo to visit professional futsal and football clubs to participate in coaching clinics, play friendly games against local junior teams and to watch professional games. I will be the tour manager and Rinichi will coordinate activities with the futsal/football clubs while utilising his local knowledge to act as interpreter and tour guide. The plan is to make this an annual event for our junior players and to establish relationships with ‘sister’ clubs in Japan for future mutual exchange of players. The tour will be divided up into four components: (i) Attending a futsal coaching clinic with a professional club; (ii) Observing training sessions at a professional football club; (iii) Playing friendly futsal and football games against local junior teams; and (iv) Sight-seeing around Tokyo. Futsal Coaching Clinics and Friendly Games The proposal is to attend a futsal coaching clinic at either Fuchu Athletics or Firefox Fuchu Futsal Clubs (Tokyo) to receive skills and tactical training from professional coaches. This will also be an opportunity to meet the senior players from these clubs and to begin building relationships with club members. We will also play friendly games with local junior teams. F-League Games Futsal as a professional sport is a lot more developed in Japan compared to Australia. The national F-League is made up of 12 professional clubs from around Japan who compete in the national league from June to February. Games are played at large indoor stadiums in front of huge and very vocal crowds. Our proposed schedule includes attending F-League games in Tokyo. Football training sessions and games Mitsubishi Yowa SC U-18s is a professional sports organisation catering for a number of sports including football, tennis, swimming and fencing. All coaches work full time coaching and educating Olympic athletes within their own sports complex. Mitsubishi Yowa recently became J-League National Youth Football Champions (Adidas Cup) beating seven J-League youth clubs along the way. From speaking with Mr. Hiro Ikeda there is strong interest in forming a relationship with our club and for our players to have the opportunity to observe their training sessions and participate in friendly games with similar level and age teams. The club is located in close proximity to Fire Fox Fuchu and Fuchu Athletics Futsal Clubs and a visit with Mitsubishi Yowa SC would work in nicely with our proposed schedule. Sight-seeing in Tokyo Sufficient time will be factored in to spend time sight-seeing around Tokyo. This may include modern and traditional sites within Tokyo city as well as day trips to attractions outside of Tokyo. Draft Schedule Departing flight Monday 21st September 2015 (first week of school holidays) Six days in Tokyo between 22nd and 27th Attend futsal coaching clinic and friendly games, attend football training sessions and friendly games, attend F-League futsal matches and sight-seeing (specifics yet to be confirmed) Return flight Monday 28th September 2015 Budget Our objective is to make this trip achievable for most families by making the budget as affordable as possible. The budget per player will cover costs only, profits are not being skimmed. Arana United Futsal Club will subsidise some of the additional expenses to help keep costs as low as possible. Costs need to cover 12 players and two adult supervisors. *FLIGHTS: A travel agent has provided an early estimate. QANTAS will be offering direct flights from Brisbane to Tokyo. Very early estimates indicate that a return fare will be in the proximity of $1350 per person (group rate plus travel insurance). There will be additional costs of obtaining a passport for those who need one. *ACCOMMODATION: We are exploring various accommodation options, either hotel room or dormitory style. *MINI BUS: Costs for hiring a mini-bus are being explored. Includes tour guide and interpreter. *MEALS: Depending on whether breakfasts are provided at accommodation and lunches provided by futsal / football clubs, daily meal budget to be confirmed. *SIGHT SEEING COSTS: To be confirmed. *COACHING CLINICS / F-LEAGUE TICKETS: To be confirmed. *TRAVEL SHIRT / PLAYING UNIFORM: $70. Based on a per-day approximate budget the total cost per player is expected to be around $3000 (*estimate only subject to confirmation of specific costs). Fundraising / Sponsorship We would be asking that some of the parents form a fund raising committee to coordinate fund raising events and attempts to obtain corporate sponsorship. All funds raised will reduce costs for parents. Rationale for tour The purpose of this tour is to provide a once-in-alife-time opportunity for our junior players to experience the rich sights, sounds and colourful culture that Japan has to offer, to meet the local people and to broaden their futsal and football knowledge. This is a great opportunity to take advantage of the contacts we have established with futsal and football clubs based in Tokyo. By building these relationships we will be assured of being well looked after by our hosts and establishing a long-term partnership. Most importantly, the boys will have the time of their lives. The purpose of this proposal is to get an indication from parents as to who may be genuinely interested in allowing their son to participate in this international tour. No commitment is required at this stage. This proposal is purely to gauge the level of interest. Please reply by email if you are interested in taking up this opportunity. The tour is open to any male player from Arana United Futsal Club aged 14-16yrs however spots are limited. Regards, Barry McErlean (President) Arana United Futsal Club Ph. 0428235870 Email: [email protected]
© Copyright 2024