Japan’s national high school soccer 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 soccer 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 color.
“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.”
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