Korea makes debut in women’s lacrosse tourney
Korea’s U19 women’s national team poses after their historic first win in the 2015 U19 Lacrosse World Championship on July 23. Provided by the team
“It was a good game overall, and we really put our effort into it,” U19 national team defender Kim Young-heon, 16, said by phone.
“I am confident that we will do much better in our next game against Finland,” Kim added. “If we win against Finland, we get to at least be in 11th place in the entire tournament.”
Korea’s U19 women’s lacrosse team is making its first appearance in the championship, held this year from July 23 to Aug. 1 at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Fourteen countries are participating in the quadrennial event organized by the FIL.
For all of the women’s lacrosse team members, who range from high school sophomores to college freshmen, this is the first time representing Korea in such a big competition.
Park Jae-hyun, 18, a forward who scored three goals in the competition, said, “It’s my first time participating in an international competition this big, so honestly, I’m really nervous. At the same time though, I’m so excited and thankful to be given this valuable opportunity and will try my best to represent our country.”
So far, Korea has gotten its first ever win, 3-2, against Israel in the opening game on July 23 and recorded five losses: 12-10 to Colombia on July 24, 20-3 to Japan on July 25, 20-2 to New Zealand on July 26, 20-0 to Canada on July 28 and 18-5 to the Czech Republic on July 29.
Ryu Seung-a, 18, who was the starting goalie for games against Japan, New Zealand and Canada, said, “Facing shots from foreign players is hard because their shots are so fast, but I feel really good when I make saves. I want to block as many shots as possible and win the next game.”
The team’s head coach, Jang Hyun-il, when asked about the gap between Korea and other countries, replied, “The biggest difference between other countries and Korea is the pool of lacrosse players.”
“There aren’t many lacrosse players in Korea, and in underage competitions such as this, some Korean players have played the sport for as short as a year or two in some cases,” he said. “Despite this, I think we are doing far better than what I initially hoped for, even getting a win. I’m sure Korean lacrosse will improve as Korea makes more appearances in such big competitions.”
BY PARK JUN-BEOM [jbkr98@gmail.com]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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