"It won't be easy to buy a glove bat right away" The players' association will inherit the late Choi Dong-won spirit'Low-age player' Support
Sep 09, 2024
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The Korea Professional Baseball Players Association (hereinafter referred to as the 'Players' Association') will commemorate the late Choi Dong-won and inherit the spirit of his senior.
In June, at the second regular board of directors of the Players' Association, there was an opinion that the players' association should regularly provide support for juniors with low annual salary, and it was put on the agenda of the official board of directors and all were unanimously approved.
Until now, the Players' Association has consistently supported Futures League players by selecting three Futures League players from each club at the 「Real Glove Awards」 held on December 1 every year. In 2021, a total of 300 million won worth of training supplies were provided to about 625 players with an annual salary of less than 50 million won by adding donations and corporate support through talent donations from senior professional baseball players.
The low-salary player support project, which has been commercialized and carried out for the first time since the establishment of the Korea Federation of Players in January 2000, is a method of supporting all players who joined the team without a down payment in the previous year and maintain their status (registration, fostering, military holding, etc.) based on the final selection date (September 10 every year).
It plans to raise support funds through budgeting for the players' association and gradually expand the scale through corporate sponsorship.
In 2024, the first year of the support project, a total of 18 players who joined the team in 2022 and 2023 in 2021 (players who joined the team without a down payment and maintain their status until September 10, 2024). The payment is held on September 14 every year to commemorate the late Choi Dong-won and remember his feelings for his junior.
According to the Korea Federation of Players' Association's survey of the last three years (2021-2023), 25-30% of all rookie players join the team without a down payment every year, and 40% of them are still active as professional baseball players a year later.
Kim Hyun-soo, chairman of the Korea Professional Baseball Association, said, `Just because you join the professional league does not mean that your economic environment will suddenly improve. It is never easy to continue your professional life with a minimum annual salary of 30 million won. For players who have not yet shown their skills properly, it will not be easy to buy a glove or a batHe said "The seniors should help the juniors who just joined the professional team to keep their careers a little bit helpful. Since it is difficult to help all juniors with low annual salary, the board of directors agreed on the situation when they joined the professional baseball team and to support juniors who have maintained their status as professional baseball players for more than a season.
Meanwhile, Kim Hyun-soo, the 12th chairman of the Korea Federation of Players, who took office in December 2022, will serve until December of this year, and the Korea Federation of Players will hold the 13th presidential election through a vote of the entire team around mid-November after the end of the season and announce the new chairman at the regular general meeting of the Korea Federation of Players on December 1.
bellstop@sportschosun.com
