The female volleyball empress? Kim Yeon-koung, who is training in China, confessed her honest feelings.

She is now in the final phase of the team's training camp in Shanghai, China, ahead of the 2024-2025 season. She is sweating profusely. Shanghai has a special relationship with Kim. In the 2017-2018 season and the 2021-2022 season, she played for Shanghai and advanced her team to the championship game.

Kim Yeon-koung said, "There were also overseas training sites in Japan and Korea, but the general manager asked me 'How about Shanghai', so I said 'It's okay.' The hotel I am staying at now is also a place where I stayed a bit when I was a player in Shanghai, so I am doing well as if I came to my hometown. It was nice to meet the coaches, staff, and players who I was with."

Several photos of Kim's past matches are posted at the entrance of the Shanghai Bright U-Best training site. Despite the short period of time, this shows how amazing Kim Yeon-koung was at the Shanghai club. "I thought she would change her photos, but she hung a lot of her old photos," Kim said. "When I asked the Shanghai team manager, she said, 'Kim Yeon-koung's photos will never change,'" Kim said with a smile. "It may change next year."

Kim Yeon-koung had various activities during the off-season. She had her retirement ceremony led by the KYK Foundation that she established. She also attended the 2024 Paris Olympics as a goodwill ambassador for 12 members selected by the International Volleyball Federation.토토사이트 추천

The ceremony was all the more meaningful as she was with her seniors and juniors who shared the myth of reaching the semi-finals in London 2012 and Tokyo 2020. "I came up with the idea while promoting the World All-Star Game," Kim said. "I raised what I was going to do alone and joined the national team. It was great that it turned out successfully. My sisters thanked me a lot."

Regarding the visit to Paris, he said, "I was cautious because it coincided with the team's schedule, but the team gladly told me to go. The schedule was so tight that I didn't have much time to enjoy other sports and participated in the event with the fans who came to enjoy Olympic volleyball." "When I participated in the Olympics as an athlete, I only went back and forth between the stadium and the athletes' village, and I felt a lot of things when I saw the cheering and shouting of the fans around the stadium. Nevertheless, I felt a lot of regret that Korean volleyball couldn't come to the Olympics."

Kim Yeon-koung has been named the MVP of the regular league for two consecutive seasons, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. However, her team, Heungkuk Life, finished second in the championship series for the second consecutive time. Her desire to win was bound to grow.

However, Kim is trying to prepare for the upcoming season with the intention that she will enjoy it. "Since I have won a lot of championships before, I wanted to win more because I know the sweetness well. That's why I have more regrets," he said. "I also want to enjoy the upcoming season. Then, I think I can get better results."

I will also make efforts to achieve that goal. "Winning a championship is a result of efforts made during the offseason," Kim said. "I think I have come to realize over the past two years that you can't just make efforts or efforts. The club has also increased its staff and support. As much as the club desperately wants to win a championship, the club remains determined to do its best."

Kim Soo-ji took over as the new captain of Heungkuk Life Insurance. Kim Yeon-kyung said, "It doesn't change my position just because my friend takes over after (Kim Mi-yeon), but I think I see my friend Su-ji changing a lot. She seems to care much more about the team."

Kim Yeon-koung has the biggest fandom in Korean sports. "There are many times when you have good interest and support, but sometimes it's hard. Everyone wants to be alone, but I can't do that either," Kim said. "There are some inconveniences and hardships, but that's something I have to endure. I try not to get stressed about those things. I try to enjoy them."

The time for "player Kim Yeon-koung" will soon come to an end. Kim Yeon-koung, who has been drawing pictures one by one since her retirement, has recently revealed a quite different sketch. I have grown to want to become a leader after retirement. "I am drawing various pictures in my head, but my priorities have changed a bit recently. 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," she said.

There is a myth that a superstar-turned-player cannot succeed as a coach. "I don't care about such myths," Kim said. Rather, people around me say that it's best to be a leader. People ask me why I try to undermine the honor and reputation I built as a coach, but I will not avoid what I want to do because of those thoughts."