Coach Han Yu-mi and advisor Kim Yeon-kyung
Escaping from ‘Last year’s nightmare of a loss and a draw’ Confidence
“I will show you that I am getting better”
“I hear a lot that the atmosphere is different from last year.”
In the absence of coach Cesar Hernandez, coach Han Yu-mi and advisor Kim Yeon-kyung, who lead the Korean women’s volleyball team, said the atmosphere of the national team was positive ahead of the 2023 International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Volleyball Nations League (VNL), which will be held from the 30th.
At the National Team Media Day held on the 16th at the Jincheon National Training Center, Chungbuk, coach Han said, “I don’t know the atmosphere well because I was not in the national team last year, but the players and staff I know say, ‘This year, preparations seem to be going well. They seem to have a will to not repeat the pain of last year, and it is an atmosphere of taking care of themselves.” Kim Yeon-kyung also said, “There are many young players in the composition of the members, and I hear a lot that the national team has improved from last year in terms of energy and atmosphere. We are preparing hard so that we can achieve better results than last year.”
The national team has been convened at the Jincheon National Training Center since the 24th of last month and is training. We are preparing for the VNL, which will start on the 30th in Turkiye Antalya.
However, in the national team training so far, Cesar has not been able to work with the team due to the schedule of his team, Vakifbank (Turkiye). Coach Cesar joins VNL in Antalya, the first schedule. Coach Han and advisor Kim Yeon-kyung, who are ‘newbie leaders’, have a heavy burden on their shoulders.
With Cesar, training content is shared through live images and videos. One coach said, “I keep communicating with the coach. We are reflecting 안전놀이터 the detailed instructions the coach wants in training.”
The year 2023 is important for Korean women’s volleyball, which is going through a dark period in the trend of generational change in which Kim Yeon-kyung, Yang Hyo-jin, and Kim Su-ji retire after the semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics. Starting with the VNL, the national team will play the Asian Championships, the Paris Olympic World Qualifiers, and the Hangzhou Asian Games in succession.
The first task is to make up for the failure of last year’s VNL, which returned with a poor record of all losses and draws for the first time since the start of the tournament. One coach said, “Personally, I want to win one win per week. I don’t think the players, fans, and other coaching staff will think so,” he hinted at his goal. The VNL is a process toward the Asian Games and the Olympics even further.
Kim Yeon-kyung said, “My goal is to show that I am getting better at VNL than last year, and everyone can see that I am getting better.”