Epson Announces Extended Overseas Training Attachment For More Local Youth Players At Prestigious J-League Football Club

Epson Announces Extended Overseas
Training Attachment For More Local Youth Players At Prestigious J-League
Football Club

Top row (L-R): 
Mr Takeshi Yamazaki (Youth Academy Director, Matsumoto Yamaga FC), National
Football Academy’s U-15 youth footballers Elijah Lim and Ashley Yong, U-14
youth footballer Vasileios Chua, Mr Nadzri Osman (Executive, National Youth
Teams, Football Association of Singapore) and Mr Toshio Hanaoka (General
Manager, Public Relations & Investor Relations, Seiko Epson Corporation)

Bottom row (L-R):
National Football Academy’s U-14 youth footballer Marc Ryan Tan, U-15 youth
footballers Muhammad Nur Adam Bin Abdullah and Christian Chiang Moroni, and Mr
Rob Servais (Head Coach of the Singapore U-15 squad, National Football Academy,
Football Association of Singapore)

Singapore, 13 June 2016 – Global technology leader Epson today
announced another overseas training attachment to increase overseas development
opportunities for local youth footballers. A group of six Under-14
(U-14) and Under-15 (U-15) players selected by both Epson Singapore and the
Football Association of Singapore (FAS) are attending a week-long training
attachment with prestigious J-League Club Matsumoto Yamaga FC from 12-20
June in Japan.

This trip is the second attachment to
the J-League club initiated by Epson Singapore, as part of its three-year
partnership deal with FAS inked in 2013, and the increase in the size of the
attachment is a reflection of Epson Singapore’s continued commitment to
the development of youths through sports, one of the leading tenets of its
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

The six National Football
Academy (NFA) U-14 and U-15 players, made up of Marc Ryan Tan Wei Ming, Chua
Zikos Vasileios Ming Xun, Ashley Yong Cheng Wai, Christian Chiang Moroni,
Elijah Lim and Muhammad Nur Adam Bin Abdullah, were selected based on technical
skills, discipline, maturity and passion. Two of the boys, Adam and Elijah,
were also part of the original team of 3 U-14 players handpicked for the first
attachment in June 2015.

Learning from previous trips, the latest
attachment will see the youths receive more training, with the inclusion of
personal coaching sessions by Yamaga’s coaching team, as well as participation in
practice matches with their Japanese counterparts in order to improve their
skills on the pitch. Off the pitch, the players will be able to observe
Yamaga’s first team’s training session and also official matches of both the
Club’s youth and first team in Alwin Stadium.

To provide a holistic experience, the
boys will be staying in the Club’s dormitory during the attachment,
and participate in an immersive tour of the local sights and attractions in
Matsumoto and the surrounding region. In addition, the boys will also visit
Epson’s headquarters in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, where they will
experience the company’s museum and see thelatest in Epson’s wide range of
products, including smart glasses and wearables under the company’s Moverio and Runsense
labels.

“In
order to bridge the gap in international exposure that our local youth
footballers receive compared to their regional counterparts, Epson is proud to
be able to facilitate the overseas attachment again this year. We have expanded
the programme to include a larger contingent, and this latest regime will see
the boys receive more training, based on feedback from both coaches and the
boys last year. We hope to inspire and help nurture more youths to realise
their dreams and develop strong values through sports, especially football,”
said Ms. Tan May Lin, Epson Singapore’s General Manager (Sales, Marketing &
Customer Service Division).

“We greatly welcome the
continuation of this exchange program and wish to thank everyone at Epson, our
club’s main sponsor, and Epson Singapore who made it happen. There is no doubt
that this international exchange with Singapore, which is in line with the J
League’s Asian business expansion strategy and one-country one-club exchange
program, will be a step toward globalizing our club’s brand,” said Takeshi
Yamazaki, academy director of Kabushiki Kaisha Matsumoto Yamaga.

“Apart from training daily on the
Karigane Ground in Matsumoto, the six players from the academy will participate
in a practice match as members of the Matsumoto Yamaga football club and
receive individual training. They will also do some sightseeing in Matsumoto,
stay in the Matsumoto Yamaga dormitory, and experience Japanese culture. We
will also have them help run a home game (against Yamagata) in packed Alwin
Stadium and enjoy a live match.

“We hope that this exchange program
will be a catalyst to further development of the relationship between the
Football Association of Singapore and our club and that, through the agency of
athletics, we contribute to exchanges and friendship between our two
countries,” added Director Yamazaki.

“Since
last year’s attachment, we’ve seen Adam and Elijah progress both on and off the
pitch in their skills and attitudes, and they’ve grown to become role models to
their team mates and juniors. This trip would allow the boys to grow even
further still in terms of technique, learning from some of the best in Asia.
More importantly, we want to get the boys to change their mind-set and
awareness, and learn (from the Japanese players on how) to influence their
environment in Singaporean football,” said Rob Servais, head coach of the
Singapore U-15 squad, National Football Academy, Football Association of
Singapore.