2007년 12월 01일
[Sports Arena] The Ups and Downs of Handball
By_Nam Ji-hyun_Reporter
Handball is a game with a long history, reaching as far back as ancient Greece. The rules of the game were established in 1915 when handball was a sport for ladies in Germany. The SungKyungKwan University (SKKU) Handball Team, established in 1958, also boasts a long history – almost 50 years. Over the decades, the team has produced a number of members who have played or who are currently playing for the national team, including Choi Hyun-ho, Kim Seong-hyun, Hwangbo Seong-il, and so on. These days, there are 11 players on the team who are instructed by manager Choi Tae-sup, a former member of the national team, and coach Lee Jong-in. On the day the SKT visited the handball team, new members had just joined the team. Let’s read about their story.
In 2000, a rumor began spreading around the school that sports teams who did not perform well would be abolished. Manager Choi Tae-sup was brought in to take charge of the team that was worries about the rumor, and he led the team to defeat a powerful contender from KyungHee University in the 2001 Handball Tournament. After that, the team steadily turned out good performances, coming in 3rd place at the 28th Federation of Presidential Handball Championship in 2005 and at the Autumn University Handball Championship in 2006. However, the team has not been performing well in 2007. Recently, the team recorded 1 draw and 4 losses in the 2007 Autumn University Handball Championship and has not showed any noteworthy success in 2007.
Manager Choi spoke about the difficulties of having only 10 players on the team, which is very different from other teams that will normally about 16 players. Although 7 players participate in a game, it does not mean that only those 7 players play in one game. Because handball is a sport that requires a lot of physical strength, almost all players move on and off the bench during matches which consist of two periods, 30 minutes each. That is why a team needs at least 14 players.
With the SKKU Handball Team, on the other hand, if a single player out of the ten gets injured, the player replacing the injured player must play the rest of the game. And if there is no one available to replace the injured player, it leaves a gap in the team’s attack and defense. In the 2007 Autumn University Handball Championship, swift attacks were not carried out well because the former captain in charge of the right wing was injured. Neither could the team properly play the seven practice games because there were not enough players. The team strives to overcome this problem by holding friendly matches against high school teams or business teams from Hana Bank and Doosan Construction & Engineering. Competition with other university teams is intense, so the university teams do not hold “friendly” matches with each other. Since November 2007, five new faces have entered the school, and one sophomore rejoined the team. Therefore, it is expected that the new players will help the team’s strategies and inspire the practice sessions.
Both new and existing players hold practices six times a week. During the practice, the SKT asked the members who they considered a rival, and they all shouted Kyunghee University. Kyunghee University is a rival because in order to represent the Gyeonggi Province in the National Games, they must defeat Kyunghee. (Both SKKU Handball Team and Kyunghee University Handball Team are based on aother campus of Sunwon city in Gyeonggi Province) Furthermore, the Kyunghee University Handball Team took first place at the 2007 Autumn University Handball Championship. Park Yung-woo(senior, Right Wing) said, “We defeated the Kyunghee University team in 2006 to be selected as the representative of the province. Nobody expected us to win, so we felt indescribable joy. Although we could not defeat them this year, our team will surely feel the joy of victory again in 2008.”
How did the players start playing handball and what road will they take in the future? Yoo Jae-woong(freshman, Right Back) started playing the game because he caught the eyes of a phys-ed teacher back in elementary school. He enjoyed the rough physical contact and the fast pace of the game. Every member has played handball since childhood and loves the game. Go San-wook(sophomore, Goal Keeper) said confidently that he will work to become a member of the national team after graduation. He also said goal keepers should be good at making long passes and demonstrate speed, and he is confident that he will become a top player in the world.
Other players have also said that becoming a member of the national team is a dream for every player, but they hesitate to play against other teams around the world. Strong physique is important for surviving violent body contacts especially in a game of handball. Therefore, Asian players, who are relatively smaller in physique than the players from the West find it difficult to compete against Westerners, who are mostly over 195cm tall and weigh more than 100kg. This is reason why the Korean National Team, who ranks first or second in Asia, does not rank in world tournaments like the Olympics.
Rather than playing for the national team, most players plan to continue playing handball for a business team. However, handball is not a popular sport, so it is not easy to find a business team. There are only five male business teams registered in the Korean Handball Federation, and only a few players are selected for each team. This causes many handball players to lose their job. Despite the number of problems faced by the players, both at domestic and international levels, their passion to continue playing handball is intense.
The players’ seniors have done well as members of the national team, members of business teams, and coaches and managers. They show the student players the ways of overcoming the difficulties mentioned above. The SKKU Handball Team holds an annual alumni celebration and enjoy friendly matches with teams consisting of young members against old members. When the student players meet their seniors playing or coaching for opponent teams during competitions, the seniors generously advise and encourage the juniors playing in the same position.
The new members of the team - who still look like high school students - prepare seriously for the upcoming Handball Big Tournament, which will be held by the Korean Handball Federation. Yu Bum-jun(new student of 2008, Center Back) said that he is not afraid of getting injured, and he wants to perform well in the tournament. Also, Kang Sun-kyu(new student of 2008, Pivot) said that even though he is smaller than other players, he will use his nimble size to his advantage. The new members of the team all said that they will try to match up to the achievements of their seniors and are determined to play hard in order to become top players in the tournament. Jung Tae-hwan(junior, Left Back), who is charge in the captain now, said “Every new members of 2008 is excellent player, so we are confident of championship among the universities.” The aspirations and attitudes of the handball team gave the SKT a preview of what to expect at the upcoming Handball Big Tournament: a giant leap onto the top of the podium.
# by | 2007/12/01 00:00 | Campus | 트랙백 | 덧글(0)
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