"We are no longer a nuisance" Last place forever? The youngest club foreshadowed the spicy taste

Oct 17, 2024

Pepper Savings Bank squad. Photo=KOVO

"I'll show you a spicy taste."

Can the youngest club, Pepper Savings Bank, make a splash. It opens in a different atmosphere with a new female head coach.

Founded in 2021 based in Gwangju Metropolitan City, Pepper Savings Bank ranked last for three consecutive seasons since its foundation. In the first season of its foundation, it won three games, and in the second season, the 2022-2023 and 2023-24 seasons, it only won five games (31 losses) in a row.

Ahead of last season, the team recruited big FA players Park Jung-ah and Chae Sun-ah, and succeeded in cracking down on internal FA, but did not protect Lee Go-eun in the process of nominating compensation players and brought her back through trade.

He also returned to the U.S. just before the Cup, when manager Ahen Kim voluntarily resigned, and later hired coach Joe Tringe, but he also resigned during the season.

장소연 감독. 사진=KOVO

Pepper Savings Bank, which had a lot of internal strife, appointed commentator Chang Ji-yeon, the team's first female coach, as its new head coach, and also succeeded in strengthening its power by choosing the 1m97 middle blocker as the first overall pick in the Asian quarter draft, creating a new atmosphere. In the cup competition, he finished at the bottom of Group A with three losses in three games, but he still opens in a much brighter atmosphere than before.

Coach Jang Ji-yeon, who has been watching Pepper Savings Bank outside as a commentator, is trying to understand and carefully examine the characteristics of the team with many young and inexperienced players. Coach Jang Ji-yeon, who met with reporters at the V-League Media Day on the 16th, said, `That was a big concern. There are a lot of young players, and they lost a lot, so I thought there was a lack of confidence that came from that. This is the part that I paid the most attention to while serving as the director. Even during training, we talked a lot about positive things. Good job I'm going to say this a lot. I'm trying to make the atmosphere as bright as possible," he smiled.

Pepper Savings Bank Park Jung-ah and Jang Wi are expressing their candidacy with a ceremony at the Dodram 2024-2025 V-League Women's Media Day held at The K Hotel in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 16th. Yonhap News

In that sense, I have high expectations for captain Park Jung-ah. Coach Yoo Ji-yeon said, `Jeong-ah is leading the team well like a captain. I talk a lot of responsibility to Jung-ah. 'You're the captain in the court, so please play the leader role. If there is a difficult situation, you have to come forward. Park Jung-ah is fully aware of it and is following it well. In addition, Lee Won-jung is a young player, but he has a lot of experience. It's young, but it doesn't shake, so there's no big difficulty. Our team seems to be going in harmony," he said, thanking the players.

Park Jung-ah performed a hand fan ceremony with Jangwi on the media day, saying, "I will show you the spicy taste." is determined.

When asked to reveal his goals for this season, Coach Jang Ji-yeon also said, `The primary goal is to help our team settle down well without being a nuisance to the league. If you set a goal with a number, I want to make sure you have a double-digit multiplier. That's my goal,' he replied with a smile.

youll@sportschosun.com

"We are no longer a nuisance" Last place forever? The youngest club foreshadowed the spicy taste

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