2025 Pertiwi Cup Will Not Only Be Centered on Java Island

SOUTH TANGERANG, KOMPAS – After a long hiatus, PSSI, in collaboration with Djarum Foundation, has launched a women's football competition titled Hydroplus Pertiwi Cup for the U-14 and U-16 age groups. For the first time, this tournament also targets regions outside Java Island, which are in need of women's football competitions. With the tournament's expanded reach, the potential for the emergence of new talents also becomes greater.

The fundamental principle in forming a strong national team is to ensure greater participation in football. The more female football players involved in a competition, the greater the potential for discovering new talents. It is much easier to find talented football players if there are 10,000 children playing compared to only 100 children.

This was realized by Djarum Foundation together with PSSI. This is the reason behind the expansion of the coverage area for the 2025 Pertiwi Cup. PSSI aims to recruit 5,700 to 6,000 female football players for the two age-group tournaments.

"In women's football, our challenge lies in the talent pool. The existence of various women's football tournaments (initiated by Djarum) has made our talent pool increasingly clear," said the President Director of PT Garuda Sepak Bola Indonesia, Marsal Masita, during a press conference for the Hydroplus Pertiwi Cup U-14 and U-16 in South Tangerang, Banten, Monday (14/4/2025).

For the Java region, the U-14 and U-16 Pertiwi Cup will take place in 10 locations, namely Tangerang, Bandung, Cirebon, Semarang, Surabaya, Kudus, Malang, DKI Jakarta, Solo, and Yogyakarta. There are six locations outside Java, namely the Kalimantan region, Nusa Tenggara and Bali, Sulawesi, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, and Papua. Later, the competition will use a home tournament format with 32 teams participating in each region.

Meanwhile, for events held outside Java Island, the tournament format is more akin to a football festival. This is due to the limited number of women's football clubs outside Java. Nevertheless, PSSI ensures that talent scouts will be sent to all regions, both on Java Island and outside Java.

From the competitions held in each region, the best players representing 16 regions will be selected. These top players will compete again in the All-Star round in Kudus, Central Java.

One of the advantages of the Pertiwi Cup U-14 and U-16 this time is that it facilitates the formation of the Indonesian women's football team, which will be prepared to participate in the qualification for the 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup. The coach of the Indonesian Women's National Team, Satoru Mochizaki, is scheduled to travel around to scout new talents. The selected players are guaranteed to meet the standards and needs of Mochizuki's team.

Another reason behind Djarum Foundation working with PSSI to hold Piala Pertiwi U-14 and U-16 is none other than to create a tiered competition. Previously, Djarum Foundation was actively promoting women's soccer tournaments in the Milklife Soccer Challenge event.

Like the Pertiwi Cup, the tournament formed by the Djarum Foundation focuses on developing Indonesian female soccer talents. So far, the Milklife Soccer Challenge has been held at the U-8, U-10, and U-12 levels.

Thus, the Milklife Soccer Challenge and Piala Pertiwi tournaments are complementary. It is hoped that female soccer players will not hesitate to continue honing their soccer skills with tiered tournaments. So far, young female soccer players have often been anxious because of the lack of ongoing competition as they get older.

"We want there to be a continuation of the Milklife Soccer Challenge. After discussing with PSSI, it turns out that from U-12 there is a Piala Pertiwi tournament for the U-14 and U-16 age groups. So our female soccer players always have a tournament as a forum," said Program Director of the Milklife Soccer Challenge, Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation, Teddy Tjahjono.

For the first stage, the U-14 and U-16 Pertiwi Cup for the Java region will start in Tangerang on April 14-20. As for the regions outside Java, it will start from Kalimantan on April 25-27.