Gwangju City Goes All Out to Attract Women's Professional Volleyball Team 'Pepper Savings Bank'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] As the establishment of Pepper Savings Bank's women's professional volleyball team is becoming more tangible, Gwangju Metropolitan City is actively pursuing the acquisition of the team's home base.

On the 8th, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop met with the head of Pepper Savings Bank's Gwangju branch and requested that the wishes of many local volleyball fans hoping to attract the professional volleyball team be conveyed to the headquarters.

Along with this, a promotion team led by the Deputy Mayor of Culture and Economy, including the Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Office, Vice Chairperson Jeong Soon-ae of the City Council, Jeon Gap-su, President of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Volleyball Association, and Professor Kim Min-cheol of Chosun University's Department of Sports Industry, decided to accelerate the efforts to secure the home base through active collaboration with the local volleyball community such as the Gwangju Metropolitan City Volleyball Association.

As a result of the women's professional volleyball team meeting held by the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) on the 7th, it is known that KOVO and officials from the existing six teams agreed to recommend placing the new team's home base in Gwangju Metropolitan City to promote the regional expansion of professional volleyball.

Gwangju City, based on its facility conditions suitable for use as a volleyball-exclusive stadium and the regional advantage of securing a large number of home fans, stated that if the establishment of the seventh women's professional volleyball team is confirmed in the future, it will devote efforts to this home base acquisition to jointly solve KOVO's long-standing challenge of "national expansion of the V-League."

Kim Jun-young, Director of the Culture, Tourism and Sports Office of Gwangju City, said, "Gwangju is an excellent city with human and material infrastructure where a professional volleyball team can operate and is expected to become a growth hub for professional volleyball," adding, "We will actively cooperate to ensure that the women's professional volleyball team can settle in our city."