Kim Yeon-kyung. Sports Donga DB
Kim Yeon-kyung (34, Heungkuk Life Insurance) is a pioneer in women’s volleyball in Korea. After her debut, she played four seasons to pacify her V-League before she moved on to the Japanese stage in 2009. Since then, she has continued to challenge on the stage in Turkey and China, and she has grown into a world-class player. An Italian coach praised her, saying, “He has a Russian physique, American strength, Japanese skill, and Brazilian agility.” If she had only worked in the V League, ‘World Class’ Yeon-Kyung Kim would not have been born.
Kim Yeon-kyung usually recommended her juniors to go abroad. But the reality is that her fear outweighs her courage. In April, she posted a video on her YouTube channel titled ‘Why I want her juniors to go abroad,’ advising them to “go abroad and broaden your horizons.” She added, “If you’re going to go out, you have to go when you’re young,” she added.
On the 8th, when the summer match was held, Kim Yeon-kyung mentioned overseas expansion again in Hongcheon, Gangwon-do. Taking Thailand, which defeated Korea in the 2022 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) as an example, “The main players of the Thai national team all play abroad. The Thai league is not at a high level, so I come to learn advanced volleyball, but when those players come together, we become a strong team.”
V-League teams also need a forward-looking attitude to advance overseas. “As a rule, you have to play five seasons (to go abroad),” he said. Then the player becomes a high-paid employee, but abroad he is a ‘rookie’. So, I have talked about the problem of the system that there are many difficulties.” He suggested, “We need to send young players abroad to help them learn and come.”
Kim Yeon-kyung confirmed ‘Speed Volleyball’ on VNL this time. He said, “Many countries such as Brazil and the United States play speed volleyball. It feels really fast. If we want to compete on the world stage, we have to become speed volleyball, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It will take a long time,” he confessed frankly. Our players, who suffered the disgrace of ’12 wins and draws’ in VNL, were different from the world level in organizational and individual skills. That’s why we shouldn’t be ‘frogs in the well’ anymore.
Reporter Choi Hyun-gil choihg2@donga.com More articles by the reporter