Korean legend Cha Bum-kun's football legacy lives on in Goheung

Football

Published: 29 Nov. 2023, 15:01 Updated: 29 Nov. 2023, 17:02

Korean legend Cha Bum-kun's football legacy lives on in Goheung

Korean football legend Cha Bum-kun [JOONGANG ILBO]

Korean football legend Cha Bum-kun’s passion for the sport has not waned even at the age of 70, as he is teaching young kids to play for free in Goheung County, South Jeolla.

"Kids kicking a ball are just adorable, and they are all my lovely grandsons and granddaughters," Cha said during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at Paryeong Stadium in Goheung County on Sunday.

Often referred to as Tscha Bum, the Korean legend started his football program, "FC Chaboom," as he was enjoying rural life in the region.

"It has been almost a year since I started offering free football lessons to 85 children in first to third grade twice a week with the help of Goheung County," Cha said.

Cha Bum-kun, center, teaches young kids football at Paryeong Stadium in Goheung County, South Jeolla on Sunday. [FOOTWORK CREATION]

More than half of Goheung's first to third graders are learning football from the legend, as there are only about 150 of them in the region. Goheung has a small population of about 60,000 residents, and only around 300 elementary school students live in the area.

Cha’s call to run the program in such a rural area came as he is well-acquainted with football's ability to revitalize a local community.

"The social ambience I experienced in Germany was pure and lively," Cha said. "It was nice to see the entire town form a community spirit and heal their physical and mental health through enjoying football and other sports. Our country needs a strategy with which we revitalize a local community around sports."

Cha lived in Germany when he played in the Bundesliga from 1978 through 1989. He spent time with Darmstadt 98, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen, and he twice won the UEFA Cup — now called the UEFA Europa League — in 1980 and 1988.

He first won the title with Frankfurt in 1980 and claimed his second in 1988 with Leverkusen.

A remarkable Bundesliga career earned Cha multiple awards, including a place in the Asia Men's Team of the 20th Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

Cha’s move from player to coach is nothing new as he also runs another football program, also called “FC Chaboom,” that he opened in Seoul in 1988, one year before he retired.

He started the Seoul program as he wanted to create an effective youth development system like Germany’s for Korea, so it can have global competence in football.

The inaugural FC Chaboom now has 1,500 students, and more than 2,000 sit on the waitlist.

His programs in Seoul and Goheung, however, do not focus on cultivating elite players. Instead, they aim for students to enjoy football as a hobby.

"The best way for kids to improve football skills is to allow them to realize the joy of playing with a ball at a young age," Cha said. "That is where my role ends. I want to leave the work of making the kids Korea’s elite footballers to my fellow skilled football friends."

Cha has increased the amount of time he spends in Goheung since last year, and his football program in the county has already raised hopes of bringing meaningful change to the local community.

"A growing number of kids in the areas nearby [Goheung] want to join the [program] and learn football as words about Korean football legend Cha teaching kids himself spread," Goheung Culture and Sports Chief Jung Dong-seok said.

BY SONG JI-HOON [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]