"Fighting! Faster, faster!"
Suwon Maehwa Elementary School and indoor gymnasium were noisy on the 11th, when winter vacation was in full swing. This is because the 'K League Futures Children's Soccer Class was held. K League Futures is a program that provides education, culture, and environment for children to enjoy and learn soccer. The federation is in progress with the support of the Korean Sports Association's '2024 Youth Sports Foundation Project'.
The children's soccer class is one of K League Futures' businesses. In November 2023, the Korea Professional Football Federation signed a business agreement with the Ministry of Education to support 'Every Spring School and School Sports Revitalization'. For the past two years, EA Sports FC FUTURES' was held with EA Sport. Since November last year, elementary schools in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province have been operating 'Visiting Soccer Classes'.
At the beginning of the apricot day, 23 children from the spring class visited the gym and sweated. Programs such as dribbling training and dribbling relay were conducted. The program was developed as a youth-tailored educational program under the name of 'Futures Academy'. The response is good, so it will be distributed to all clubs soon. Cho Won-hee's basic training video is already provided free of charge on the K League YouTube channel. In addition, K-League produces branded triangular cones and bibs and donate them to schools participating in soccer classes.
The characteristic of the 'K-League Futures Children's Soccer Class is that players from the K-League directly guide children. Coach Lee Joon-hee (37), who played in 220 K-League games, and coach Yoo Soo-chul (33), who played at Busan I-Park, hosted the event. It is already the 16th class in Maehwa Elementary School. Perhaps that's why he showed an extraordinary bond with children. Even the girl who was crying after being hit by the ball was in the coach's arms and quickly stopped crying. The federation plans to continue to select retired players as instructors and provide jobs after retirement.
This coach had a dream of becoming a leader after retirement. After encountering K League Futures, I had the opportunity to coach young friends. If I only cared about myself as a player, now I'm taking care of my children's nails." Coach Yoo also found out for the first time that there is a program for retired players. Now, people around me ask me first, "It was difficult at first, but it became comfortable when I said that I would put myself down and approach from the child's point of view."
Children who received guidance had a high level of satisfaction. Ms. Han Ga-yeon, 8, said, `I didn't like soccer before, but I had fun learning it. I want to have a soccer class next time. My mother said 'Learn well and become a soccer player' Go Seo-jin, 9, also became interested in soccer through the soccer class. I want to tell my friends who haven't enjoyed soccer yet that they can do well if they practice a little bit.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
