Kim Yeon-koung said she'll hang my picture forever in Shanghai

"Volleyball Empress" Kim Yeon-kyung (36, Heungkuk Life Insurance) is preparing for the next season by sweating hard in Shanghai, China, where she used to play. As she is about to retire from active duty, her dream of becoming a leader is growing bigger than a sports administrator.

Kim met with volleyball reporters at the Shanghai team's off-season training on Tuesday, and had a candid interview. She has prepared a blueprint for her career after retirement as well as her next season's resolution.

Shanghai is where Kim Yeon-koung played in the Chinese league in the 2017-2018 season. Kim Yeon-koung played for Shanghai Bright U-Best at the time and also played in Shanghai in the 2021-2022 season, just before her V League comeback.

Kim Yeon-kyung explained the background, saying, "There was a training site in Japan or Korea, but the general manager asked me, 'How about Shanghai, China?' so I came here because he said, 'It's okay.' "The hotel I'm staying at now is also a place where I stayed a little bit when I was a player in Shanghai, so I'm doing well as if I'm in my hometown."

At the entrance of the training site, several photos of Kim when she played in Shanghai are displayed. "I thought she would have changed her photo, but she still hung a lot of her old photos," Kim said. "So when I asked the Shanghai general manager if she didn't change her photo, she said, 'Kim Yeon-kyung's photo will never change.' Even so, she said, "But I don't know. Maybe she will change it next year."

Kim Yeon-koung performed various activities during the off-season. She held a retirement ceremony for the Korean national team led by the KYK Foundation she established, and went to the 2024 Paris Olympics as 12 goodwill ambassadors selected by the FIVB.

It is time to slowly think about life after becoming a professional athlete. "I am drawing various pictures in my head, but my priorities have changed a bit recently," Kim Yeon-koung said. "If I used to have the lowest desire to become a leader after retirement, I have recently come to the top of my mind to teach the players and lead the team."

Initially, Kim said, "My preference was to try something as a volleyball administrator and sports administrator." This is why she challenged herself to become an athlete member of the International Olympic Committee.

However, Kim Yeon-koung said, "These days, I think there are many things that I can change in the field." However, she also hinted, "Of course, people around me and my aides fiercely oppose these ideas. The opposite is quite large."

On the popular belief that a star-turned-coach cannot succeed, Kim said, "I don't care." "On the contrary, people around me say, 'It's a victory if I do well as a leader,'" Kim said. "People around me say, 'Why do you want to undermine the honor and reputation you have built up as a coach?' but I don't want to do what I want to do with that in mind."

BY: 토토사이트 모음