As a sports industry city preparing to leap forward, the amateur athletes of Goseong-gun, Gyeongnam, are aiming for the national stage at the ‘National Amateur Sports Festival,’ held for the first time in four years.
The ‘National Amateur Sports Festival’ allows teams with excellent results from competitions such as the Gyeongnam representative selection tournament and the Gyeongnam Amateur Sports Festival to participate. Goseong-gun, blessed with pristine natural scenery ideal for enjoying sports, will be represented by the largest number of events and participants in its history this year.
Let’s explore the foundation that enabled the growth of amateur sports in Goseong-gun and the athletes who will showcase their skills at the ‘National Amateur Sports Festival.’
◇ Sports Infrastructure in Goseong-gun
Within the Goseong-gun Sports Town area, there are outdoor facilities including a multipurpose stadium, soccer field, futsal field, basketball court, jokgu court, tennis courts, baseball field, and archery range, as well as indoor facilities such as the National Sports Center, indoor gymnasium, Bandabi Sports Culture Center, Ssireum arena, swimming pool, all-weather tennis courts, and indoor gateball courts. In total, over 40 diverse infrastructures are available for enjoying amateur sports.
Goseong-gun is already popular nationwide as a venue for national and provincial-level competitions and training camps, and it is also an excellent place for Goseong residents who enjoy amateur sports.
Not stopping there, the county is striving to continuously improve conditions by creating more sports infrastructure so that residents can enjoy better environments and enhanced cultural welfare.
Although there are many baseball clubs active, including six adult baseball teams and one little league team, the lack of an official baseball stadium made training and hosting various competitions difficult. To overcome this, in May last year, Goseong-gun completed a baseball stadium with a total project cost of 8.5 billion KRW. The stadium includes one artificial turf field, one main stand, two locker rooms, one electronic scoreboard, and six lighting towers.
The Marine Leisure Sports Academy has facilities including diving pools of various depths (1.5m, 3m, 5m, and 11m), a 6-lane 25m swimming pool, and 10 lodging rooms, making it ideal not only for training groups but also as an educational venue for students.
◇ Goseong-gun’s Efforts to Establish a Sports Foundation
To create the nation’s top sports mecca, Goseong-gun is investing 14 billion KRW in the Goseong-eup and Hoihwa-myeon areas. Since January this year, projects have been underway to build one adult baseball field, a park golf course in Goseong-eup, and facilities such as an indoor gymnasium and park golf course within the Donggoseong sports complex.
At Goseong Middle School in Goseong-eup, a neighborhood-type National Sports Center is being constructed with a total project cost of 2.4 billion KRW, scheduled for completion by 2024. It is designed so that any Goseong resident can easily access it near their residence, allowing people of all ages and genders to enjoy leisure activities, which is expected to significantly contribute to improving quality of life.
◇ Goseong-gun’s Support and Current Status of Amateur Sports to Expand the Base
Goseong-gun has 30 sports organizations and 86 clubs, and it provides generous support for expanding sports infrastructure and club activities to activate residents’ sports activities.
Especially this year, additional personnel have been secured for soccer and volleyball to promote women’s participation in amateur sports.
◇ Goseong-gun Athletes Participating in the National Amateur Sports Festival
Due to COVID-19, the ‘National Amateur Sports Festival’ is being held for the first time in four years in Gumi City, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Goseong-gun will be represented by about 30 athletes in three sports: basketball (20), gateball (6), and ssireum (2), representing Gyeongnam.
Representing gateball is the Yeong-o team from the Goseong-gun Gateball Association, which achieved third place at last year’s Gyeongnam Amateur Sports Festival.
The Goseong-gun Gateball Association consists of eight clubs, all middle-aged and older adults, including the Nongbit branch, a club for people with disabilities.
The basketball representatives are from the 30s and 40s divisions of the Goseong-gun Basketball Association. They are skilled players who won first place at the Gyeongnam Association President’s Cup basketball tournament held in Goseong last year and second place overall at the Gyeongnam Amateur Sports Festival.
For ssireum, athletes recommended by the Gyeongnam Ssireum Association, who have achieved excellent results in various competitions throughout the year, participate. Two elementary school members of the youth ssireum team from Goseong earned the right to compete.
County Governor Sang-geun Lee said, “I hope the Goseong-gun athletes participating in the National Amateur Sports Festival, a place for harmony among amateur athletes, will showcase their skills freely without injury. We will do our best to establish a foundation so that Goseong’s amateur athletes have no shortage in building their abilities and so that residents can take pride in Goseong as a sports industry city.”
Goseong-gun Sports Council Chairman Jeong-gu Bae said, “We are proud and pleased to have Goseong-gun athletes representing Gyeongnam at the National Amateur Sports Festival. We will continue to strive to further develop amateur sports in Goseong-gun.”
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