Following the establishment of the J.League, which mandated that member clubs maintain youth academies, GAMBA OSAKA Academy was founded in 1992.

The junior and junior youth teams of Kamamoto FC, which was run by the first Head Coach Kunishige Kamamoto (who passed away in 2013), were incorporated into the Gamba Academy, and a new youth team was also established. Nobuyuki Uenoyama, who had been in charge of operations and player coaching at Kamamoto FC, was appointed as the first Head Coach of the youth team.

Among them, the youth team, which included first-generation members Tsuneyasu MIYAMOTO(current president of the Japan Football Association) and Kenji TAKAGI(current assistant head coach SC), competed in the Club Youth Championship that year with only first-year high school students, defeating other clubs that were mainly composed of third-year high school students one after another. They came in second place, then third in the J Youth Cup the following year in 1993, and won the same tournament for the first time in 1994, making the name of GAMBA OSAKA Academy famous. This was an event that attracted attention in terms of demonstrating the "value of J.League Clubs academies".

Since then, the "consistent coaching system" from the academy to the top team, which Mr. Uenoyama has advocated from the beginning of his tenure as Head Coach and which the club has come to understand and uphold, has been carefully passed down for 35 years and has produced numerous professional soccer players.

At the junior level, we teach the joy of soccer while respecting independence, and help players acquire the skills to handle the ball freely. At the junior youth level, we help players develop the judgment skills to prioritize plays that directly lead to goals, and to be able to demonstrate the techniques and skills based on that judgment. And at the youth level, we help players quickly and accurately apply the basic techniques and judgment skills they have acquired up to that point, based on their own independent thinking.

Of course, in response to the changing times and the evolution of football, additional elements have been incorporated as needed, but the core guidelines remain unchanged. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that there was no need to change them. Takaaki HOSHIHARA, who currently serves as the Academy Director, explains the reason.

"Of course, there are many different ways of thinking and different clubs, and there are teams and coaches that place emphasis on team tactics, and I have no intention of denying that. However, the purpose of Gamba Academy is ultimately to develop players who can succeed in Gamba's top team or in the professional world in the future. Because this has been passed down through generations within the club for a long time, we are proud that many players with the individuality and skills that are called "Gamba-like" have gone on to go out into the professional world. In fact, this year's top team has 12 players from the academy, including Masaaki HIGASHIGUCHI, Shu KURATA, and Takashi USAMI, and there are also players like Ritsu DOAN and Daichi KAMADA who are active as faces of the Japanese national team. Looking at the bigger picture, even now, many professional soccer players who have graduated from Gamba Academy are active both domestically and internationally. If you consider their success as a kind of confirmation of what Gamba Academy has achieved, there is no doubt that the development of "individuals" will continue to be our core focus." However, we also believe it is our mission to not overlook the qualities necessary for modern football and to demand that players have those extra qualities (Hoshihara)

In fact, even today, the leading coaches in each category focus on individual development, taking into account the unique qualities and characteristics of each player and assessing their individual growth rate.

In recent years, it's particularly noteworthy that former players nurtured at the Gamba Academy have returned to the club after retirement and begun their careers as coaches. Currently, Shigeru YOKOTANI is the youth team Head Coach and Shohei OTSUKA is the junior youth Head Coach . The cycle in which they develop younger players based on the DNA that flows through them and the various experiences they have cultivated throughout their careers is also contributing to strengthening the "consistent coaching system."

"We would like to continue to have as many academy graduates as possible who aspire to become coaches take on Head Coach and coaching roles. This is because we see great value in former players who have experienced firsthand the development philosophy that our club has cherished, passing on that DNA. However, on the other hand, while being mindful of the development of the academy, we also believe that it is very important to involve people from outside, so to speak, who have diverse experiences, in order to seek the growth of individual players. We are looking at the balance of the whole when assigning coaches, and at the same time, we are also mindful of the development and growth of the coaches themselves (Hoshihara)"

Perhaps it is because of this sentiment. Starting this season, the club has welcomed back Hiroshi Ashitaka, who previously served as a coach at the Gamba Academy for many years and has since gained extensive coaching experience in a wide range of youth development settings, including overseas, as Academy Sub-Director, after an eight-year absence. This is also one of the measures taken to ensure that the DNA of the academy, which has been cultivated throughout its history, is firmly passed on to future generations.

"Leaving Gamba and seeing different parts of the world allowed me to appreciate the history and weight that the Gamba Academy has built. Not many clubs share a common sense of football throughout the academy, but they also clearly define what constitutes a 'good play' and a 'skilled player' from junior to youth levels, and use this to guide their development. I believe that Gamba's continued success as the club with the most Japanese national team players who have come up through the academy and participated in the World Cup is due to their unwavering development policy. I also believe that the fact that players from the Gamba Academy have been able to continue to play for a long time in various teams both domestically and internationally is a result of focusing on developing the 'individual'. I believe that it is the club's, and my own, mission to continue sending out uniquely talented players into the world while cherishing and inheriting the club's unique character and DNA (Ashitaka)"

So, specifically, what kind of growth does Gamba Academy aim for in the future? What initiatives have they started to achieve that? In the next installment, we will look at the details and touch upon the future of youth development.

— Interview and text by Misa Takamura