Yangju City Holds Inaugural Ceremony for Workplace Athletics Team

Yang Soo-hyun, Mayor of Yangju City, is giving a greeting speech at the 'Yangju City Hall Workplace Sports Team Athletics Division Inauguration Ceremony' held at Okjeong Sports Park on the 25th.

Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kang Su-hyun) held the "Yangju City Hall Workplace Sports Team Athletics Division Inauguration Ceremony" at Okjeong Sports Park on the 25th.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by about 100 people, including Mayor Kang Su-hyun of Yangju City, City Council member Kim Hyun-soo, Yangju City Sports Council President Lim Jae-geun, Vice President of the Korea Athletics Federation Baek Ok-ja, President of the Yangju City Athletics Federation Park Jong-man, and athletes from inside and outside the city.

The ceremony proceeded in the order of a report on the progress of the establishment by Lee Jeong-su, Director of the Education and Sports Department, followed by commemorative speeches, congratulatory speeches, introduction of the athletics team players, opening of the athletics office, and a commemorative photo session.

The Yangju City Hall Athletics Team was formed in April with one coach, Ha Kyung-soo, and two female sprinters, Lee Seon-min and Choi Yoon-kyung, and has been participating in various competitions.

Coach Ha Kyung-soo has served as a coach for elementary, middle, and high school athletics teams in Yangju City since 2006 and was a full-time coach for national representatives and elite athletes under the Korea Sports Council. Sprinter Lee Seon-min, specializing in short-distance hurdles, and sprinter Choi Yoon-kyung, specializing in short-distance sprints, are both alumni of Deokgye High School, a prestigious athletics school in Yangju City.

In its first year since establishment, the Yangju City Hall Athletics Team contributed to Yangju City's overall victory in Division 2 athletics at the 70th Gyeonggi-do Sports Festival held in Paju last May. In particular, Choi Yoon-kyung competed as a representative of Gyeonggi Province at the 105th National Sports Festival, achieving second place in the women's general 400m relay.

The Yangju City Hall Athletics Team completed the creation of an office for player rest and meetings within Okjeong Sports Park in Goam-dong, their main training ground, in early October, and held the inauguration ceremony.

Mayor Kang Su-hyun stated, "We have completed the establishment of the workplace sports team for athletics, which has a linked system with elementary, middle, and high school sports teams in the city, allowing us to recruit outstanding athletes produced in our city into the workplace sports team." He added, "I thank the Yangju City Council and local sportspeople who helped establish the Yangju City Hall Athletics Team, and we will strive further to revitalize elite sports in Yangju City."