Oct 14, 2022

The U8 Hikarigaoka Junior Soccer League starts!

On Sunday 16th of October, our U8 Team will play their first 3 games of the HJSL's (Hikarigaoka Junior Soccer League) 2022 Season.

Season Calendar & Schedule:

The Hikarigaoka Junior Soccer League is a local league in Nerima-ku (Tokyo) for the U8, U10, and U12 categories. The season runs from April to March with breaks in summer and winter to adapt to the international school's calendars. This flexibility offers FC NOMADE an incredible chance to be part of the league.

14 games have to be played this season for our U8s. Games are played on Saturdays or Sundays, morning or afternoon time, usually 1 or 2 times a month between April and March.

Sometimes, 2 or 3 games are played on the same day. Game schedules are usually announced 2-3 weeks before.

European Style Format:

The league has adopted the European format playing home and away games, although all games are played at AOBA International School Japan's Hikarigaoka campus. The classic home/away format offers an exciting environment for the teams and the players to enjoy games and challenge each other twice during the season.

The home/away format is not standard in the Japanese leagues and has preferred a Stage 1/Stage 2 format to it. In such format, groups are reformed at the end of every Stage. Teams play each other only once during the Stage 1, before being put in a different group for Stage 2 and playing teams in the new group only once.

The number of games may not change in the end. But the home/away format has the advantage of simplification by not reforming groups halfway through the season. It also allows coaches and players to gain knowledge of their opponent during the first leg, plan improvements, and develop new tactics for the second leg.

FC NOMADE has been the ambassador of a more European style of playing in the official and private Japanese leagues, and the format fits perfectly its philosophy.

How competitive and serious is it?

For kids aged 6~8 years old, too much formal competition is not the goal.

The main point is for players to experience the game and enjoy it. We want to encourage kids' improvements, confidence, and self-esteem. And the games can help in this way. "Competition" is fun after all. And the "fun" in sports is also to play the game.