Under the warm autumn sunshine, people enjoy soccer. Every player runs to kick and follow the ball. After soccer, everyone pants and is soaked with sweat. Who do you imagine was playing? A group of guys? Nope. The players were our very own Sookmyungians. The Sookmyung Times met the president of FC Sookmyung, the energetic soccer club on campus.
Could you please tell us the advantages of joining FC Sookmyung?
First, exercising together creates and strengthens bonds among people. It is a great opportunity to make friends, too. Also, we accept all types of people into the club, regardless of majors. Interestingly, we have a lot of club members from various majors like the Department of Arts & Crafts and the Department of French Language & Culture. The best thing about our club is that we annually host the K League Cup with The Korean Football Association. Many other university sport clubs envy us, and although they have requested to host the event with The Korean Football Association, they have been turned down. It is all thanks to the effort of our first club president who is now working for The Korean Football Association.
What type of activities does FC Sookmyung do? Also, among those activities, have you ever encountered any problems?
We operate in four distinct parts. First, we prepare for our soccer matches by training diligently. In order to hold training sessions, we need to seek viable venues because we lost our regular training ground after the removal of the Sookmyung Women’s University gym. Before going out to train, we diligently look for proper training grounds for the club. Also, we host the K League Cup along with The Korean Football Association and support the School Sport Club League, which is hosted by Nike. In addition, every year, club members mentor high schoolers in November. The mentor programme was established to help high school students dreaming of entering a College of Physical Education.
Please tell us about any special experience you have had personally playing soccer.
The most impressed experience I have had playing soccer was joining the 4th K League Cup. As hosts we couldn’t fully prepare for the tournament. Moreover, we had to play back-to-back games one day and three games straight the following day. All members on the team were exhausted. However, pride as hosts gave us strength to endure. During the quarterfinals, we were matched against Inha University. We played awful during the first half, but with encouragement and cheers from students, we came out victorious. We won in a penalty shoot out. Although, we didn't win the semifinal round, we did our best, so that remains as the most impressive memory in my mind.
Please tell our readers about FC Sookmyung’s plan in the upcoming months.
At the moment we are preparing to host the K League Cup. It will begin next month. We are recruiting much needed volunteers to assist with the tournament such as guider, ball boy, photographer, and medical assistants. Also, in the long-term, we hope to promote our activities among Sookmyungians like annually hosting the K League Cup and endeavoring to train under harsh circumstances. You can find us on Facebook and SBS will broadcast the event from Sookmyung Women’s University.
