Soccer Challenge in Surabaya Involves 631 Elementary School Girls

Women's soccer development through the MilkLife Soccer Challenge tournament also takes place in Surabaya, East Java.

KOMPAS/AMBROSIUS HARTO MANUMOYOSO

The atmosphere of the MilkLife Soccer Challenge tournament for the 10 and 12-year-old age groups by the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation at Bogowonto Field, Pangkalan Marinir Surabaya, East Java, on Thursday (2/5/2024).

SURABAYA, KOMPAS — A total of 631 female students from 33 elementary schools in Surabaya, East Java, took part in the MilkLife Soccer Challenge at Bogowonto Field, Surabaya Marine Base, 2-5 May 2024. The women's football tournament for the 10 year and 12 year age groups.

Participants were teams from 32 elementary schools and 1 madrasah ibtidaiyah with more girls than students. Apart from that, there is a recommendation from the City Education Department of Surabaya that sports teachers receive training and coaching regarding football.

Also read: Waiting for Clear Skies for Women's Football

This tournament was initiated by the Sports Service Djarum Foundation for the promotion and advancement of women's football. "There is a big dream for Indonesia for the national team to reach the women's World Cup," said Program Associate Tania Anggriani, daughter of badminton men's singles legend Hastomo Arbi, at Bogowonto Field, Thursday (2/5/2024).

Surabaya is the second city to hold the tournament after starting in Kudus, Central Java. In the homeland of Djarum, the national cigarette giant, the tournament was attended by nearly 2,000 elementary and middle school girls. The tournament is held to stimulate women's football from the grassroots level or young age for the sake of national advancement and progress.

KOMPAS/REBIYYAH SALASAH

Parents support their child who participates in the MilkLife Soccer Challenge for girls at the Supersoccer Arena in Kudus, Central Java on Sunday (12/17/2023).

Tania continued, with the tournament, there will be enthusiasm and interest from the community to support young girls who happen to be fond of soccer. This enthusiasm starts from elementary school with the hope of spreading to soccer schools (SSB). In Surabaya, with a strong soccer tradition, there is almost no news of SSB involvement for girls.

After Kudus and Surabaya, the tournament will be held in six other cities on Java Island, namely Semarang, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Tangerang, and Bandung. In addition to Kudus as the birthplace of the tournament, these seven cities have a strong football tradition represented by historic big clubs. Persija Jakarta, Persebaya Surabaya, Persib Bandung, Persis Solo, and PSIM Yogyakarta are five of the seven founding clubs of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).

Also read: Seeing the Talents of Indonesian Women's Footballers

Matches in the tournament brought together teams of seven members each. The field used measures 40 meters x 20 meters. Apart from football matches, five skills challenge competitions were also held. Each of them is mastery of passing the ball (passing control), dribbling the ball (dribbling), penalty shot (penalty shoot-out), 1 opponent 1, and a shot towards the goal (shoot on goal).

The abundance of matches and competitions, according to Tania, is expected to make the young female football players happy and perhaps foster a love and commitment to becoming athletes in the world's most popular sport.

KOMPAS/AMBROSIUS HARTO MANUMOYOSO

Mayor of Surabaya Eri Cahyadi

Since 1969, Djarum has been known for its support and development in the field of badminton. Women's soccer in Southeast Asia is lagging behind due to the lack of support in competitions and structured development. The national women's team has competed in the 1977 Asian Championships (placing fourth), 1981, 1986 (also placing fourth), and 2022.

Currently, the national team is being coached by Satoru Mochizuki from Japan. The Indonesian women's team is ranked 109th by FIFA, far behind Vietnam (37), the Philippines (39), Thailand (47), Laos (93), and Malaysia (96).

Also read: The Gap of Disparity in the Women's National Football Team

Separately, the Mayor of Surabaya, Eri Cahyadi, expressed his delight that the capital city of East Java is also chosen as the venue for the women's soccer tournament in age groups. Women's soccer needs development and progress so that it can have equal opportunities with men's soccer.

"The attention of the community towards football is very high because it is the most popular sport and the girls' group deserves attention," said Eri. This tournament will encourage the emergence of other tournaments so that the SSB can develop and start nurturing female football players.