Korea's U-16 Asian women's volleyball title the fruit of fundamentals for coach Lee Seung-yeo
Published: 30 Nov. 2025, 16:52
Updated: 30 Nov. 2025, 18:22
![Lee Seung-yeo poses in the Geumcheon Middle School gym in Geumcheon, North Chungcheong, on Nov. 25. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/30/44f30fc9-70a5-41f6-847a-e418ead8126e.jpg)
Lee Seung-yeo poses in the Geumcheon Middle School gym in Geumcheon, North Chungcheong, on Nov. 25. [JOONGANG ILBO]
At a time when Korea’s shrinking youth population threatens the country’s sports pipeline, a team of middle school players delivered a rare bright spot by winning the 2025 Asian Women’s U16 Volleyball Championship under the care-driven, discipline-heavy approach of head coach Lee Seung-yeo.
Lee sat down with the JoongAng Ilbo in the gym at Geumcheon Middle School in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, on Tuesday to talk about the victory in Amman, Jordan, on Nov. 8 after outlasting Japan in a five-set semifinal and Chinese Taipei in another five-set final.
The victory came despite Korea’s steep decline in international competitiveness. The country ranks 40th in the FIVB standings, trailing Japan at fifth, China at sixth, Thailand at 18th, Vietnam at 28th and Kazakhstan at 35th.
The U-16 Volleyball Championship title ended a long drought. Korea’s youth teams had not won an Asian youth championship since Park Chul-woo and Moon Sung-min led the men’s team to gold in 2004. A women’s team had not won since Korea hosted the tournament in 1980, a 45-year gap.
The win in Jordan is the most recent development in Lee's long history in the sport. She played for the storied Midopa women’s volleyball team, which put together 184 straight wins from 1969 to 1985. She joined the club in 1991 as the club's dynasty faded, earned short stints on youth and senior national teams and left the court at the age of 24 after repeated injuries.
![The Korean women's volleyball team celebrates winning the 2025 Asian Women's U-16 Volleyball Championship in Jordan on Nov. 8. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/30/f5cbd976-6cec-4859-9f57-01c81e088906.jpg)
The Korean women's volleyball team celebrates winning the 2025 Asian Women's U-16 Volleyball Championship in Jordan on Nov. 8. [YONHAP]
She returned to volleyball in 2012 as the first head coach of Geumcheon Middle School's volleyball team after raising three children.
Asked about the key to the win, Lee emphasized fundamentals and conditioning.
“We focused on trusting one another and covering for one another as one team, and I feel grateful because the players followed it so well,” she said.
She described fundamentals as “something the body remembers,” which is why she relied on repetitive drills that often felt tedious to her players.
To build cohesion, she encouraged self-discipline by promising to leave everything else to the players if they respected core training rules.
“I told them to tie their hair neatly because you cannot focus on a match if you keep brushing it back,” she said. “During matches, I told them not to just walk on the court and to move lightly instead.”
Lee also pushed them to keep their rooms clean because she believed tidiness helped performance. She relied on team leaders to serve as examples.
“If key players like Son Seo-yeon, Jang Su-in and Yeo Won accept it, then everyone accepts it," Lee said.
![Son Seo-yeon, left, celebrates during the Asian Women's U-16 Volleyball Championship in Jordan on Nov. 7. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/30/f8613d31-dc74-4cf1-8654-88307748ea13.jpg)
Son Seo-yeon, left, celebrates during the Asian Women's U-16 Volleyball Championship in Jordan on Nov. 7. [YONHAP]
The players appeared to respond to sincerity rather than scolding.
Lee said the head coach’s most important job is to “feed players well and let them rest well.”
She cannot cook for national team players at tournaments, but she often cooks for her Geumcheon students.
“I made them beef tartare bibimbap with plenty of beef, and now they say they cannot eat it anywhere else,” she said.
During the championship, Lee restricted phone use after receiving the players’ consent.
“If they use their phones, they cannot sleep or rest properly,” she said. “I told them that even if it feels difficult now, we will return home smiling.”
Her coaching career unfolded alongside raising three children. Her eldest daughter works at a day care center. Her eldest son played baseball through college before turning to academics and is now pursuing a doctorate in sports management. Her youngest son also played baseball and now coaches middle school players.
“When I returned home late after training players, my youngest son complained, ‘Are you the volleyball team’s mom or my mom?’” She said with a laugh, “Now he also coaches and comes home late like I do.”
The tournament’s MVP went to 181-centimeter-tall (5-foot, 11-inch-tall) outside hitter Son, but Lee praised libero Yeo as an unsung hero for covering difficult plays.
Asked to compare Son with Korean volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung at a similar age, Lee said, “Kim Yeon-koung was short until middle school,” and added, “They are all still growing. It is not easy to predict how much more a player will develop. Son has gained good experience, and that is why she needs to work even harder on fundamentals.”
The 2026 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U-17 World Championship in August next year in Chile offers Lee a chance to prove her leadership once again.
"I hope Korea can place in the top four as the No. 1 Asian team," Lee said. "I think the youth team needs to gather at least once a month, not only shortly before major tournaments."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE HAY-JUNE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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