I put on the Taegeuk mark once again. This time, I want to help the team in a different direction. Although he cannot directly produce results, his know-how as a representative is alive.
On the 16th, the women’s volleyball team unveiled the training site ahead of the ‘2023 International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Volleyball Nations League (VNL)’ at Jincheon National Training Center in Chungbuk.
The 2023 VNL will be held from the 30th to the 16th of July. Week 1 matches (May 30-June 4) will be held in Turkiye and Week 2 matches (June 13-18) will be held in Brazil. The last three weeks (June 27-July 2) will be held at Chilbo Gymnasium in Seosuwon, Korea.
Starting this year, Kim Yeon-kyung will attend as an advisor and Han Yu-mi will lead the team as a new coach.
Currently, coach Cesar Hernandez of the women’s national volleyball team will join her team, Vakif Bank SK (Turkiye), directly from Turkiye without entering the country due to the league schedule. Therefore, the press conference on this day was centered around coach Han Yu-mi and advisor Kim Yeon-kyung.
I came to the athletes’ village as a non-athlete. Adviser Kim Yeon-kyung, who stood in front of the microphone before the training, said, “It’s really nice to wear clothes that are new and have the Taegeukgi on them.”
He is neither a captain nor a player, but what did the national team he joined focus on differently from last year? When asked about this, he said, “In my case, there are a lot of foreign staff, so they help a lot with the communication between foreigners and domestic teams, and I tend to talk a lot about the direction of how to improve on the international stage.”
Sometimes, half-jokingly, the question, ‘If you give advice, don’t you think ‘I want to play instead’ is also a regular subject for him. Regarding this, he said, “In fact, rather than thinking about wanting to play, I think about how to help the players more.
As he is a VNL returning after a year, he couldn’t help but point out his painful performance last year. Including the world championship, he won only one win, and only three sets in the 2022 VNL. Are there any changes from last year? Regarding this, Kim Yeon-kyung said, “There are many young players even when looking at the composition of the members this time, and I think the energy part or something like that is better than last year. This year, I am preparing hard to repay more people with better grades than last year.” .
The key to being an advisor is ‘maximum support’ from behind the player. He explained the background of the advisor offer, saying, “As a person who is involved in volleyball in many ways, I want to help if volleyball can develop.” In addition, he said, “Many people were worried about the fact that I act as an active player and serve as an advisor, but I try to pass on my experiences so far to the coaching staff and players while making sure there are no problems in my career as an athlete 안전놀이터.”
As I am close to the players and more comfortable with them, there is no big formality in the title. There are various players, from players called ‘advisor’ to ‘commissioner’ and ‘sister’. Regarding this, Kim Yeon-kyung laughed, saying, “Everyone calls them what they want and what they want,” but confessed, “We are so comfortable that each of us is doing it comfortably.
Do you have any plans to expand your career as a national team leader in the future, starting with the adviser position? Regarding this, he said, “I tried advisor for the first time, but it was really not easy, and I thought it was best when I was a player.” I am learning a lot through it, and I think it will be very helpful in the direction I want to go,” he concluded the interview.