

In fact, many of the league's players work normal day jobs to pay their bills.
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Women's Professional Soccer League, Japan's L. Watching the final game? Send us video of your viewing parties. In Japan "they are already trying to find who can be on the national team at the age of 12." Women's youth soccer in the U.S., especially for girls under 12, is "purely recreational," he said. And you train and train until you fall down."īut the culture of sport in Japan is far different that in the U.S., Byer said. "In Japan, you play 365 days a year and you play only one sport. "It's not like New York, where you play soccer from the summertime until Thanksgiving," Byer said. So why are Japanese women enjoying such a successful period? This compares to around 200,000 girls registered with the American Youth Soccer Organization in the U.S.

There are just 25,000 girls registered to play youth soccer in Japan, a country of more than 125 million people, Byer said. He added that recent success from Japan's national team has not increased the number of young girls interested in playing organized soccer. "It wasn't until five or six years ago that the Japanese Football Association (JFA) got together and decided to put more resources behind women's soccer." "Women's soccer is grossly underfunded," said Byer, who once played in Japan's professional soccer league.


Yet their success has not had a significant impact on the women's game generally in Japan. In addition to their fourth-place showing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nadeshiko has appeared in each of the six women's World Cups since 1991, and are coming off a recent win at the 2010 Asia Games held in Guangzhou, China. squad - which took home the cup in 19 - standing in their way.īut what many people may not know, Byer said, is that the Japanese squad has enjoyed a high level of success on the international scene over the last 20 years. They are unlikely to relinquish this role in Sunday's final in Frankfurt, with a star-studded and battle tested U.S. Known as Nadeshiko - or beautiful flower in Japanese - the women's national team has been the underdog throughout this year's tournament. it's huge for women's sports here."Ĭan World Cup spark women's soccer surge? "Now, you turn on every channel and there are big segments about women's soccer. "This is a breath of fresh air, because everything out of Japan has been negative over the last few months," said Tom Byer, a youth soccer instructor in Japan for over 25 years and former soccer instructor of starter Aya Miyama. It is also putting women's sport in the shop window like never before. Regardless of the result, Japan's surprise progress in Germany is a much-needed boost for a country recently devastated by massive tremors and a subsequent tsunami. Hong Kong (CNN) - Japan women's national football team will square off against favorites the United States Sunday in their first appearance in a World Cup final.
