Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club, the first public sports club team in South Korea, will compete in the National Youth Games. Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club is not satisfied with the first appearance, but also the first victory.
Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club defeated Changwon Sahwa Town and Geoje Public Sports Club at the Gyeongnam Representative Evaluation Tournament in March to qualify for the Boys’ Games.
Tongyeong, which is the only city to host a men’s and women’s professional basketball cup and has been hosting the National Elementary School Basketball Tournament since 2020 under the presidency of Yoon Deok-jubae, operates the Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club with the support of the Korea Sports Federation.
According to Kim Do-han, president of the Tongyeong City Basketball Association, the Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club is the first public sports club supported by the Korea Sports Ministry to compete in the boys’ tournament.
Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club’s first opponent in the boys’ tournament is Jeju Selection.
Jeju Selection is a joint team of Hamdeok-cho and Ido-cho. At the 22nd National Elementary School Basketball Tournament held in April, Ilsan-cho won one and lost two, while Hamdeok-cho lost three. It’s hard to see Jeju Selection as a strong team.
If Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club defeats Jeju, they will face the winner of Cheonan Bongseo from Chungnam and Incheon Ansan from Incheon. Incheon Ansan was knocked out of the qualifiers with a 1-2 record in the association championship, while Cheonan Bongseo made it to the final tournament with a 1-1 record in the preliminary round, but was fortunate to meet the weakest team in the preliminary round, Kukwoncho.
In the Boys’ Games and the National Games, bracket luck is just as important as strength. Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club has not had bad luck in the bracket.
Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club traveled to the 2023 National Youth HARMONY Basketball League Regional Competition to watch Jeju selections Hamdeok-cho and Ilsan-cho play to get a feel for their strengths, as well as to play scrimmages against elite teams. On weekdays, the team trained on their own, and on weekends, they traveled to other regions for practice games to prepare for the boys’ championship.
Ha Sung-ki, who leads the Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club, said, “Our goal is to beat Jeju, so we will bring two defenses to prepare for the best lineups of Hamdeok-cho and Ilsan-cho. After that, we will face the winner of the Chungnam and Incheon representatives, so we will prepare for that as well.” “It is the first time in Korea that we are competing in the boys’ tournament under the name of a club. There were a lot of twists and turns just to get these players to the national team. I am satisfied with this fact alone. But we had a lot of support from chairman Kim Do-han, so we played a lot of practice matches. I can see hope (for a win), but it’s a bit difficult to get the players’ minds right because it’s a club. But Choi Joo-won and other players have improved. “We train thinking that we shouldn’t be embarrassed,” he said, explaining how he prepares for the boys’ tournament.
Choi Joo-won (178 cm, C), who is the most prominent player at Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club, said, “My teammates prepared hard to become Gyeongnam’s representative, and I was able to become (Gyeongnam’s representative) because I didn’t get nervous and showed my original skills. I was nervous at first because it was an important game, but as I played, I relaxed.” Looking back on the Gyeongnam trial, he added, “We train a lot to improve our physical strength and practice offense and defense. It helps to play practice games with new teams from other regions. There are many unfamiliar teams in the boys’ championship, and I think I can do well in the boys’ championship by adapting to how to play against teams I have never played against before.” He showed confidence.
Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club’s strengths are defense and playing fast basketball based on that.
The Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club currently consists of four 6th graders, nine 5th graders, and five 4th graders. Elementary school students grow a lot in a year. With so many fifth graders, Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club is looking forward to next year more than this year.토토사이트
Coach Ha Sung-ki said, “I want to create an elementary and secondary school team. I expected this era to come a few years ago, but I didn’t recognize it in the elite team. I think it’s right (to run a sports club), and our final goal is to raise the elementary school well and create a secondary school team and aim to win one national championship (in the secondary school).” “There are many players with good speed in the fifth grade, so (next year) it will be possible to play different basketball than this year. Chairman Kim Do-han continues to scout, and it is a tremendous advantage to be able to scout players from the entire Gyeongnam region.” He also shared the direction of the Tongyeong Basketball Sports Club in the future.
Tongyeong City Basketball Sports Club, which hopes not only to participate in the boys’ championship but also to win the first victory, will play its first game against Jeju Selection at 12:20 on the 27th at Ulsan University Gymnasium.
