In the shadow of pro volleyball’s box office success, rookies have the lowest employment rate in draft history
The Korean Volleyball Organization (KOVO) V-League 2023-2024 Men’s Rookie Draft concluded at the Mayfield Hotel in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday. The players who applied for the draft came to the event dressed in nice suits, but less than half of them smiled on stage for a commemorative photo.
Of the 42 total, the employment rate is only 47.6%. Twenty of the players, including two trainee players who did not receive a contract, were selected by professional teams. This is a record low, lower than the 56.25% (9 out of 16) in the 2005-2006 season.
It’s a shadow of professional volleyball in the midst of an all-time box office boom. The problem of the deteriorating amateur volleyball scene, from elementary school to middle school, high school, and university, is not new. It is a problem that the volleyball world has been struggling with for a long time.
Samsung Fire coach Kim Sang-woo, who until recently coached at his alma mater Sungkyunkwan University, pointed out, “It would be great if college players could be used in the pros right away, but it’s not easy.” “There are many teams that won’t use them right away even if they are selected. There is no immediate sense of power, and the impact of the introduction of the Asian quota system has also been compounded,” he analyzed. “It’s unfortunate for me as a volleyball senior that professional teams haven’t recruited many players,” said KB Insurance coach Hu In-jung, who also served as the head coach of Kyunggi University, “but it’s true that the level of volleyball in terms of skill is still falling, so the employment rate is gradually falling.”
However, both teams used all four of their draft picks on trainee players. Korean Air relinquished its first-round pick, so in reality, it could only select Hongik University outside hitter Kim Jun-ho in the second round. Kyung Hee University middle blocker Cho Jin-seok, the longest player in Korean volleyball history (216 centimeters), was also overlooked due to his weak fundamentals.
Hyundai Capital coach Choi Tae-woong said, “It’s always been said, but it’s time to expand the base. Right now, volleyball is very popular among youths, but it doesn’t lead to player registration, which leads to the discovery of good players,” he said. “In Japan, they say that there is nothing to teach players who come to the pros, so they only need to manage the psychological part. On the contrary, we have to teach them the basics again in the pros,” he said. “In fact, it’s hard for amateur coaches because there are no resources now. “We need to create a system that allows young players to be more attached to volleyball while increasing the amount of training by switching to elite sports,” he said.
What has become an early draft trend could also be the death knell for college volleyball in the future. Last season, all of the first-round picks came out of college. This time, six of the seven first-round picks were drafted early. “In the future, there will be many (potential players) applying for the early draft,” Hoo said. “There are no players there, and there should be measures taken by the federation and clubs to change that. Volleyball people need to put their heads together.” 짱구카지노 도메인