Academy

Category list

On each category page, you will find player profiles and match schedules, while the school page features soccer school introductions and event reports.

Youth (U-18)

Junior Youth (U-15) Kashima, Norte, Tsukuba

Juniors (U-12) Kashima, Norte, Tsukuba

School

About the Academy

Antlers Academy began its activities in 1992. It primarily operates from three locations: Kashima, Tsukuba, and Norte.

The development age groups are divided into three categories: Youth (high school students), Junior Youth (junior high school students), and Junior (elementary school students), who train daily with the dream of one day being promoted to the top team.

Additionally, the school operates at 21 locations, with approximately 3,000 elementary school students and others experiencing soccer with Antlers every day.

Kashima Antlers Academy Philosophy and Policy

- Development - Producing the Mainstay of the Top Team

The academy exists to develop players for the top team.

Players in the development program also share the philosophy and traditions of the top team. Everyone involved in the youth system is a successor to the club's philosophy and traditions, and as a member of the Antlers family, they bear the emblem.

- Promotion - Antlers are a part of life

Our coaches will work as one to support children in pursuing their dreams, all while helping them experience the joy of the game. We will establish bases to provide opportunities to as many children as possible.

Regarding our locations

Kashima

The Antlers Academy base, steeped in tradition and history

・Based in Kashima City
・Main training grounds: Antlers Clubhouse, Kashima Antlers Academy Field

 When Antlers was founded in 1992, J-League clubs were required to have a youth organization for developing players. Accordingly, the Antlers Academy was established. Before the clubhouse was built, the Academy's base was on the second floor of the Health Promotion Center located on the Sumitomo Metal (now Nippon Steel) premises. When the clubhouse was completed, the base was moved, and now the Academy's activities are centered in Kashima.

 

Today, the Kashima Academy has all the necessary facilities, including not only the clubhouse but also three natural grass pitches, four artificial turf courts, shower rooms, and locker rooms. It is an environment where players can practice while closely observing the top team. In 2019, the Academy House was completed, and last year, the Kashima Antlers Academy Field was also established through the crowdfunding project "Antlers' Future for Everyone." New facilities are also being developed.

 

With the goal of developing regular players for the top team, the Kashima Academy has produced players such as Hitoshi Sogahata, Takuya Nozawa, Shoma Doi, and Yuma Suzuki. In recent years, promising players like goalkeeper Yuya Oki and Daiki Yamada have been sent to the top team.

 

At the core of the Academy, in an environment where players can experience the traditions and history of Antlers, player development is fostered daily.

Norte

The "Northern" Base Aims to Create a Competitive Environment

・Based in Hitachi City
・Main practice field: Orikasa Sports Park

Just as the word "Norte" means "north" in Portuguese, our activities are based in the northern Ibaraki region. Norte Junior Youth began its activities in 1999. Since then, the team has steadily grown stronger, making its first appearance in the Club Youth Football Championship, a national tournament, in 2010, and achieving its first victory in the Kanto League, earning promotion to the first division. The team has also participated in national tournaments three times to date.

 

In 2017, the junior team also started its activities, and the following year, in 2018, it participated in the Kanto Tournament in both the Chibirinpic and Kanto Youth Soccer Tournament. As the system for elementary school-aged children progresses, they are also starting to achieve results.

 

Shuhei Mizoguchi, currently a member of the top team, is the first player to be promoted directly from Norte Youth to the top team. He joined the top team last year from the youth team and is a promising player expected to make further leaps this season, his second year as a professional. In addition, many other players who grew up at Norte, including Ayase Ueda, who played for the top team until last summer and participated in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, are now playing professionally after going through high school and university sports federations.

 

With the goal of "creating a team that makes people feel like good players are emerging," Norte Junior and Norte Junior Youth are working closely together to create a competitive environment, utilizing systems such as the "skip-grade" system. They are active daily in the northern Ibaraki region, aiming to produce many professional players, not to mention top-tier ones.

Tsukuba

A training base in the southern part of the prefecture that has produced many professional athletes

・Based in Tsukuba City
・Main training ground: Tsukuba Academy Center

Antlers Tsukuba was founded in 2008. Its activity base is the Tsukuba Academy Center, completed in April 2011. Located on a vast 20,000-square-meter site, it boasts one artificial turf ground, three futsal courts, lighting, lockers, showers, and meeting rooms, making it one of Japan's leading facilities for players at the junior high school level and younger. In addition to Antlers Tsukuba's activities, it is also used as a venue for matches for developing players in Ibaraki Prefecture, and it also functions as a regional disaster prevention base, securing minimum electricity and water.

 

At the well-equipped Tsukuba Academy Center, Tsukuba Junior Youth, Tsukuba Junior, and Tsukuba School are active. Starting with Tsukuba Junior's first appearance at the All Japan Youth Football Tournament in the summer of 2014, Tsukuba Junior Youth made its first appearance at the Japan Club Youth Football Championship in 2016, and finished as runner-up in 2020. Last year, Tsukuba Junior won the Chibirinpic 2022 JA Zen-Noh Cup National Elementary School Selection Football Final Tournament.

 

Among those who have come through the academy are Yu Funahashi, who is currently playing at the top level. Eito Shimoda, who was promoted to the top team this year and is on a development-oriented loan to Iwaki FC, also graduated from the Tsukuba Academy Center. The academy has also produced many other J.League players, making it a training base in the southern Ibaraki region with a proven track record in developing professional players, both in name and in fact.

Academy's History

Promoted Players List is Here

Academy players thriving in the top team

GK 21 Daiki Yamada

DF 16 Shuhei Mizoguchi

DF 28 Yugo Okawa

DF 32 Haruto Matsumoto

MF 20 Yu Funahashi

FW 34 Homare Tokuda

FW 40 Yuma Suzuki

DF 35 Anas Udembath Motosuna

(Type 2 Player)

FW 30 Minato Yoshida

(Type 2 Player)

OB Coaching Staff

Takeshi Satouchi

Physical Advisor

Tomoya Ichikawa

GK Chief Coach

Mitsuo Ogasawara

Academy Advisor

Takuya Honda

Youth Coach

Satoshi Sugiyama

Youth Goalkeeper Coach

Yuichi Nemoto

Tsukuba Junior Youth Coach

Masashi Motoyama

Academy Scout

The Academy's Future

The Academy Support Club is an academy fan club organization established with the aim of supporting the activities of the Kashima Antlers Academy and working together to develop players who will bear the future of Kashima Antlers.

Click here for details on the Academy Support Club (Individual Plan)

In September 2024, we also launched the "Corporate Plan," a sponsorship plan for companies that wish to support the development of the next generation of players who will shape the club's future and to foster football culture through Antlers.

Click here for details on the Academy Support Club (Corporate Plan)