When you think of professional baseball coaches, you might think of pitchers, hitting, and defense coaches. They all used to be players and are also called technical coaches. Once their abilities are recognized, they become head coaches or “promoted” to the first and second teams. There are quite a few coaches who work hard as front leaders of professional baseball.안전놀이터
Recently, a coach to pay attention to is a training coach. In the past, the term “training coach” or “conditioning coach” is more commonly used (hereinafter referred to as “training”) these days. Trainer(s) can be broadly divided into compulsory trainer and physical trainer. Compulsory trainers directly apply sports medicine to athletes and are in charge of conditioning and rehabilitation treatment. A physical trainer, also called “strength coach,” is responsible for managing and improving a athlete’s physical strength.
Compared to the late 1990s when I first became the front manager of a professional baseball team, my status as a trainer has improved significantly. Demand for trainers who have earned certification and studied in the U.S. is steady. After the end of the last season, several teams had a competition to scout trainers. When competition gets overheated, the price of trainers increases. Some senior trainers change uniforms with multi-year contracts that include down payment. Up until a few years ago, trainers had a dream worth hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of millions of dollars) in annual salary, but some trainers have become a reality. As such, awareness of trainers has increased in general.
Until now, trainers have been treated less than technical coaches in professional baseball. If the starting technical coach pays 50 million won per year, trainers pay around 35 million won. If a tech coach raises his annual salary by 5 million won when renewing his contract, the trainer will stay at around 3 million won. The bonus is also different. Even if a trainer participates in the All Star match, he or she is classified as an employee, not a team member, but as an employee, and receives only 300,000 won (2,000 U.S. dollars) along with a manager and an interpreter. The daily wage for a national team is also quite different, with 400,000 won for a tech coach and 200,000 won for a trainer. Though a trainer is usually called a coach, his or her treatment is quite different compared with a tech coach.
When I was with the club, I thought that technical coaches and trainers should be evaluated on the same level. It is natural to differentiate technology coaches and trainers based on competency and performance, but it is not desirable to discriminate against them recklessly. So, I encouraged trainers to feel proud in their spare time. I talked with them often in the trainer’s room, and tried to give trainers a sense of belonging as a “quasi-employee.” I also actively recommended them whenever there was an outside training opportunity.
Players have deep conversations with trainers while receiving treatment. With deep emotional exchange, it was not difficult to see them shedding tears with athletes if traded. As such, trainers occupy an invisible and important position in the squad. A person who does what he or she has to do without being noticed is an “unsung hero.”
Recently, players have been injured continuously in the KBO League. Now, I even feel that injury is not a variable but a constant. As a result, the importance of trainers to manage players’ conditions is increasing. Perhaps this is why some clubs are recruiting excellent trainers from outside. I hope more trainers will be treated as well as technical coaches in the future.