NLCS Jeju - Sports Council Newsletter

NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

March 7, 2021

NJSC NLCS Jeju | Sports

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Editor-in-chief: Jason Jongsuh Park

Notices

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The Sports Council wish SJA a speedy recovery.

Today’s Newsletter

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Chair: Alex Yoonjae Chung

Nick Sunghyun Oh

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NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

March 7, 2021

Kim Yuna - The Figure Skating Queen

Alison Song

For International Women’s Day, I would like to write about one of the most significant female athletes who had a wide influence over Korea and globally. Kim Yuna, also called Queen Yuna, was one of the most well-known world-class skaters. She has an astonishing record - She won an Olympic gold and silver medal, was a World Champion twice, and was the first woman to break the ISU 200 point scale.

Kim Yuna is indeed a highly recognised athlete and media figure in South Korea. She was one of the hottest national stars in Korean sports history, along with the legendary stars. She was a comet-like prodigy in figure skating, overcoming difficulties; in contrast, she also had a humble and easygoing personality. Reflecting this popularity, she was nicknamed the national younger sister and figure skating queen and is still one of the most loved figures by many around the world.

How could a young 19-year-old woman achieve this level of perfection? Despite her difficulties, Kim Yuna challenged boundaries and paved the road for even greater success. Battling numerous injuries and dealing with the pressure of an entire nation on her shoulder, she emerged to conquer World and Olympic titles.

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March 7, 2021

There are some meaningful quotations that she gave to the audiences of the whole world. Two of the quotations that really caught my attention are that “Even in the hardest circumstance, dreams can give you the courage to live, and I hope I can share that message with children in need.” and “Where there is peace, there are sports; where there are sports, there is peace. Peace is what allows us, especially young people, to dream, go after one’s goals, and prepare you for the next challenge in life.” These quotations show how Kim Yuna was full of hope and courage to make her dream come true and show her passion for loving sports genuinely.

In her success, it is easy for her to get caught up in her own accomplishments and gain selfsufficiency; however, instead of being blinded by her personal pride, she uses her fame as a platform to enrich others’ lives. She even helped to inspire others to open their mind to look into the underprivileged and unwell children and help them.

Everyone knows how she was an influential person in Korea. I wanted to reiterate that not only was she a famous figure skater but also an altruistic person who helped others continuously: Kim Yuna is a great person to represent International Women’s day.

Stunning Female Athletes

Sharon Yoon

Serena Williams

Serena Williams is an American tennis player who is highly respected for her sporting achievements and strong mentality during her career. She has overcome health matters and other 3

NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

March 7, 2021

obstacles as a sports player with grit and resilience. Of course, her tennis skills are outstanding, but she as a person gave great inspiration to several athletes in the world. There is a famous quotation from Serena Williams: “A champion is defined not by their wins but how they can recover when they fall.”

Mia Hamm

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NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

March 7, 2021

A Step Towards the Men’s Game

Jason Park

In December 1921 the FA’s ruling council stated, “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and should not be encouraged”.

Historically there have been limitations on women accessing sports easily compared to that of men. The conventional perception of women playing sports was not something that a society would approve or welcome as women were thought to always support their family and stay at home. Still, we can’t say that there has been a massive improvement of female involvement in the game: only 15% of the supporters of the English Premier League are female. However, there have definitely been improvements such as many countries removing the barriers of women not being able to play, starting their own national league, and playing in major tournaments like the Champions league.

A figure that I will be introducing today is the first female manager who has coached a professional men’s team: Corinne Diacre. Born in August, 4th 1974, Diacre is a former professional football player who has played for the ASJ Soyaux in Division 1 as well as the French National Team from 1993 to 2005. In history, she is recorded as the first woman to coach a men’s professional football team (Clermont foot) in a competitive match in France, and currently, she is now the head coach of the French women’s national team.

A more recent female figure who has coached a men’s football team is Chan Yeun Ting. She herself is a former football player and is currently head coach of China’s U-16 team.

She says that her interest in association football was through the admiration of David Beckham she had as a teenager. After achieving a Master’s degree in sports science and management during her time at Pegasus and Southern she was conflicted with the pressure from her parents, who desired her to pursue a more stable career. Nevertheless, she did not comply with her parent’s demands and carried on working as a data analyst and assistant manager for Pegasus FC and Southern District FC.

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March 7, 2021

After the head coach,Yeung Ching Kwong, was sacked due to poor performance in the 2015-16 season, Chan Yeun Ting was appointed manager and dealt her skeptics a serious blow when they doubted that she lacked “football knowledge” and wouldn’t be able to have male players under control. Under her control, the team lost only one of the fifteen games played, and with this she became the first woman to coach a men’s professional association football team to the championship of a nation’s top league, and in the same year was nominated as one of the BBC’s 100 Women. Unfortunately her Golden age has not continued and she resigned in May 2017 citing stress, failure to deliver trophies during the 2016-17 campaign and her desire to complete her AFC Pro License Course.

Like this, the involvement of women in more significant places, like the managerial position has happened, but compared to the prevalent male managers the numbers are still far behind. The stereotype of men being more aggressive, dominating, and more experienced has led to a disparity of opportunities for women. The gap between men and women may be decreasing but without a greater female voice and female presence it may never be closed - at least not in the near future.

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NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

March 7, 2021

How Many Major Women’s Sports Leagues Are You Aware Of ?

Nick Oh As a passionate sports person, I was actually surprised (a little embarrassed too) that I could only recall four major women's sports leagues; I want to blame the lack of women's sports media coverage for this, but even then, four seemed too few in number to me. Hence, I did my googling, and these are some of the women's sports leagues/competitions you can't get away without knowing.

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1) National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is the highest level professional women's soccer league in the United States.

The NWSL is the successor to Women's Professional Soccer (2007-2012). The league began in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former Women's Professional Soccer members. It now has 10 teams across the United States.

The NWSL enjoys the highest average attendance rate of all Women's Sports Leagues in the US, with 7,337 audience members per match.

2) Turkish Women's Volleyball League The Turkish Women's Volleyball League, officially called the Sultanlar Ligi, is one of the most famous Women's Volleyball Leagues globally.

The TWVL was organized by the Turkish Volleyball Federation in 1983, and currently, there are 12 teams officially part of the league.

The TWVL is often regarded as the best women's volleyball in the world because its clubs have often been successful in European and International competitions.

Kim Yeon Koung, a South Korean outside hitter, used to play in the TWVL, and she was awarded MVP during the 2014-2015 season.

3) LPGA Tour The LPGA Tour is organized by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), an American organization for elite female golfers.Various LPGA Tour tournaments take place on a weekly basis.

Several Korean golfers have been successful in the LPGA Tour. Park Se-Ri, who played on the LPGA Tour from 1998 to 2016, has 25 LPGA Tour Wins and 39 professional wins. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2007.

Park Inbee, another female South Korean Golfer, won seven major championships in her career and has won 20 LPGA tours. She has over 30 professional wins. She has been the number one ranked player in the Women's World Golf Rankings for four separate runs throughout her career.

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NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

March 7, 2021

4) WNBA The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States.

As of March 2021, there are twelve teams officially part of the league. The league was founded in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the league began play in 1997.

5) National Women's Hockey League The National Women's Hockey League (NWHL) is a women's professional ice hockey league composed of teams from Canada and the United States. The league began in 2015 with four teams and has grown to six teams since. The league is the first women's professional hockey league to pay its players.

6) Dodram V-League The Dodram V-League is a South Korean Volleyball League run by the Korean Volleyball Federation. There are six women's teams currently part of the Dodram V-League. Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders currently has four titles, the most in the league.

Editor In Chief: Thank you for reading this week's edition of our Sports Council Newsletter. We hope that you learnt more about "Women In Sports". We wish you a great week ahead!

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