Organized by the Shanghai Administration of Sports and hosted by the Shanghai Football Association, the Future Star Cup (ICC) is considered to be one of China’s most prestigious U15 tournaments. Set against the backdrop of the newly built SAIC Motor Pudong Arena, home of Chinese super league side Shanghai Port, a total of eight teams participated in the tournament, including the CFA (Chinese Football Association), the Shanghai Football Association, several Chinese Super league academy teams (Shandong Taishan, Zhejiang Greentown) and local academy teams from international clubs (Dortmund Academy Shanghai, Juventus Shanghai Academy).

The Dortmund Academy team not only just participated, but impressed friend and foe at the tournament by showing resilience and passion after a rocky start in the group stage. By beating the U15 team of the Chinese Football Association, Dortmund secured a third place in the group stage, eventually reaching number 6 in the overall standing after a close defeat against another CFA team competing for 5th place. Thousands of miles away from the homebase of BVB in Germany, under the guidance of head coach Volkan Özkan, a great team has been molded that shows those typical BVB youth football philosophy characteristics: courageously fighting until the last whistle blows, with confidence and playful creativity.

Hosted by Great Sports Media, the tournament officially kicked off with the ICC Coach Forum. Alongside BVB coach Volkan Özkan, other prominent stakeholders in Chinese football were present, including Gao Hongbao (Vice President of the CFA), Chinese football legend Xu Genbao and Tomoyoshi Ikeya (Academy Director Zhejiang Greentown). Main topic of discussion was the future of Chinese football, and the importance of solid coach education and a unified youth development philosophy. Overall, the Shanghai Future Star Cup has been an amazing learning experience for our young players and proved to be a great showcase for BVB and the advantages of the BVB Youth Development Philosophy. With the heroic victory in the match against the CFA, which generated over 500.000 views on Huya livestream, as the icing on the cake.