Kim Young-jun, managing director of planning and fiscal affairs at the Korea Hockey Association, visited the National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Sunday and presented a 5 million won ($3,360) development fund to the women's national hockey team.
The donation was made ahead of the Asian Games in Japan in September, aimed at boosting the women's team's morale and supporting their training camp in Australia.
A former national team player, Kim contributed to South Korea's gold medal at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and went on to serve as a key defender, helping lead Korean hockey through its golden era.
Kim, who currently serves as president of the Asan Hockey Association, said building supporting infrastructure to broaden hockey's base is just as important as supporting players directly. He said the development of an international hockey leisure and sports complex in Dogo-myeon, Asan, South Chungcheong Province, should be pushed forward without delay, and that the project should serve the twin goals of promoting recreational sports and nurturing elite athletes.
"We need to think about ways to grow hockey's base — among recreational players and others — and to develop the next generation of young athletes at the same time," Kim said. "Everyone must come together so that hockey can once again become a sport loved by the Korean public."
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