MilkLife Soccer Challenge (MLSC) Head Coach Timo Scheunemann said that consistent implementation of youth competitions is a crucial factor in building the foundation of national women's soccer from the elementary school level.
According to him, developing women's soccer requires regular and ongoing competitions to give young players the opportunity to develop through competitive experience.
"Kudus was the first city to host the MLSC, so women's soccer began to grow there and has continued to develop consistently. Malang has only hosted the MLSC twice, but its progress is already visible, both in terms of the number of players and their quality," Timo said in a written statement in Jakarta on Sunday.
According to him, coaching young players is not only oriented towards match results, but also building training habits, a competitive mentality, and a love for football from an early age.
"Achievement is certainly important, but what's equally important is the students' consistency in training. As their skills improve, they'll enjoy playing soccer even more. From there, their potential and talents will be discovered," said Timo.
MilkLife Soccer Challenge Program Director Teddy Tjahjono said the tournament is part of a long-term commitment to supporting the development of Indonesian women's soccer.
He said the increase in the number of participants and the quality of play in each series showed that youth competitions were starting to have a positive impact on development in the region.
"The MilkLife Soccer Challenge is now in its third year and continues to show consistent quality improvement. This demonstrates that a consistently held competition can be an effective development platform for developing future female soccer talent," said Teddy.
The 2025-2026 MilkLife Soccer Challenge Kudus and Malang Series 2 was attended by more than 3,500 female students from more than 200 elementary schools and Islamic elementary schools.
In the Kudus series, MI NU Baitul Mukminin became the champion of the 10-year-old age category (KU 10), while SDN Jambean 02 Pati emerged as the champion of KU 12.
Meanwhile in Malang, SDN Tulungrejo 02 won the KU 10 title and SDN Lowokwaru 3 became the champion of the KU 12 category.
