‘Road to International Convention.’ The Korean women’s national baseball team has begun its journey towards the international competition to be held in 2023. On this first journey, 65 people who are said to be the best at baseball in Korea joined.
The temperature was above 3 degrees, but the wind blew strong and it felt like freezing. Nevertheless, 65 people gathered here in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, shouting “fighting” to each other with booming voices and trying to do their best to show all their capabilities. For two days from the 18th, the 2023 women’s baseball national team selection game was held at Hwaseong Dream Park.
The 65 players were given vests with their uniform numbers written on them, and they did their best in front of coaches Jeong Geun-woo, Lee Dong-hyun, and Jeong Yong-woon, as well as head coach Yang Sang-moon of the national team. Due to the cold weather, his hands froze and his pitching was not as good as usual, and the outfield floating ball was strongly shaken by the wind, so he often lost his position, but he did not give in and burned his fighting spirit until the end. Yang coaches and coaches did not hide their satisfaction at the enthusiasm of the players.
The participants, who started their day schedule by warming up in pairs and receiving fungo from the coaches, ran for a total of 12 hours over two days, excluding an hour for lunch. “I don’t think I can do well because it’s too cold.” Last year’s national team member K, who was smiling nervously at the reporter, suddenly changed his eyes when it was his turn and took his blow seriously.
Since Korea does not yet have a women’s professional baseball league, participants with various stories gathered from all over the country. A player born in 1973, a mother who gave birth to two children and challenged the national team again, a middle school teacher, a securities company intern, a college student who took a leave of absence and challenged the national team, a high school senior who had to take the CSAT this year, and the youngest special participant Born in 2008, a junior high school student until. All of them have been training individually in various places throughout the winter to prepare for the day’s selection.
Outfielder Yang Seo-jin (16) is a promising baseball player who was selected as the first female player to attend the ‘Next Level Camp’ hosted by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) last year. Yang Seo-jin, her 2007-born counterpart, was eligible to apply for the women’s baseball national team for the first time this year, and made her selection. She is a promising prospect that everyone is paying attention to, but she herself did not slow down her tension, saying, “I am too nervous.” However, Seo-jin Yang smiled lightly, saying, “She was motivated a lot by seeing her older sisters, who are the best at baseball in Korea.”
On the other hand, pitcher A, who was a member of the national team last year, is sitting on the dugout bench sullenly. When he approached me and asked, “I thought about it, but I really couldn’t throw today. If I’m chosen like this, it’s match fixing,” he sighed deeply. A, a college student, took a leave of absence from university to select the national team. A had thoroughly taken care of her body throughout the winter and prepared diligently, but was very disappointed that she could not demonstrate her skills in the preliminary match.
Everyone hoped to put on the Taegeuk mark by demonstrating their best skills in the selection competition with one mind and will. As much as that, the national team is the best position that everyone aspires to, regardless of gender. Especially this year, it is rumored that the competition rate is fierce because the international competition is held after a long time due to the Corona 19 pandemic (global pandemic). 안전놀이터
On this day, the scene where outfielder Son Ga-eun (17) came out of the dugout for a while and greeted a group of boys was captured. It turned out that they were boys from the Hwaseong Sea Little Baseball Team who played baseball with Son Ga-eun. They practiced at Hwaseong Dream Park, where the representative selection match was held that day, and on their way home, they visited Ga-eun Son to say hello for a while.
When the boys surrounded Son Ga-eun and greeted each other with “sister~”, Ga-eun Son motioned for her to be quiet so that no one would see. A reporter approached and asked ironically, “Do you think (Son) Ga-eun can become a national representative this time?” The boys responded in unison, “Yes! Of course it will!” he exclaimed loudly.
Son Ga-eun was already selected for the national team for the first time last year. Will Son Ga-eun, who received their support, be selected again this year and wear the Taegeuk mark for the second year in a row? Of the 65 participants, including Son Ga-eun, only ⅓ is selected for the final 20.
Coach Yang Sang-moon of the national team said, “It was a very cold day today, but I am grateful to the players who tried to show all their skills.” I will show good results in international competitions with talented players. We ask for your interest.”