In 2018, the Korean Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism expressed their will to reorganize the existing Korean “elite” sports industry to reorganize the player development system. They announced an amendment abolishing training camp and requiring elementary, middle, and high school players to attend class hours, but the public reaction was rather cold. Their idea was to show their will to fix only the system that has nurtured many high-level players compared to the time investment in the “elite sports system” as a policy. However, the slogan of the proposed policy is different from the idea of “nurturing athletes who study,” but the opinion that the government’s efforts to change the existing system at once is aggravating the confusion is a popular opinion from schools and students majoring in physical education. They even express their critical views.
It is necessary to question why the “student-athlete program,” which is thought to be an ideal decision when evaluated objectively, caused a chaotic training situation. It is necessary to know how Korea’s “elite player development system” was structured before 2019.
Performance in elite sports
In the wrestling event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Kim Hyeon-woo endured the pain of falling out of his arm and won the bronze medal in the 3rd and fourth place match. After the match, he told the public that he was sorry for not winning the gold medal. It is not uncommon for Asian players to show a gloomy appearance when they win silver and bronze medals in any competition. The gold medal has become everything in their athletic life. In fact, as a result, the fates of athletes who fail to win medals in major Olympic events differ significantly in terms of not only an honor but also financial rewards.
If so, what is the background to these phenomena?
Pierre de Coubertin, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) founder, said that “sports can make world peace,” which gained much support, as people worldwide recognized that his words meant to promote pure competition between nations instead of war. However, for Koreans, who have been spurring the training of elite athletes by hosting the Seoul Olympics and Asian Games since the 1980s, North Korea in the past and recently Japan, which has a territory two to three times larger than Korea and a larger population, are recognized and projected as war opponents. Therefore, South Korea has been nurturing players as well as preparing them. For that reason, a silver medal rather than a gold medal is perceived as a “defeat” by giving up first place to another country.
Though Japan started a policy to expand the base of physical education a long time ago and built a foundation for the entire nation to enjoy various sports and for students to exercise healthily, even if the skills of the students called “elite athletes” fell overall. Therefore, when looking at Japan and other developed countries, the overall sports base has been expanded to promote people’s health rather than support a few athletes’ development.
Then, in what direction should Asian sports education policy go?
In fact, after World War II in the 1960s, Japan changed its policy from nurturing elite athletes to show off its health to achieving economic development in the 1980s and expanding the base of daily life sports. However, it was carried out until the 2010s without any significant changes. Just looking at the fact that 80% of the national sports budget is used to train elite athletes shows that the obsession and compulsion to win a gold medal in the Olympics are still there. In short, this fact may be a good policy for a few top players. However, it can thin the player base of the sport as a whole and make it impossible for the sport to develop within the country. Korean students enjoy sports outside of school after school to enjoy unpopular sports, but Japanese students enjoy sports at school or in government-backed facilities and clubs. As a result, it is advantageous for Japanese student-athletes to find a way to survive because they receive support from the physical education system or other education even after they finish their athletic career. However, the reality is that finding a place to return to is not easy.
Conclusion
Recently, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, both the Korean women’s volleyball team and the men’s track and field high jumper finished fourth overall. However, the fans and the people who were watching gave them unstinting support. As a result, it was decided that an additional 200 million won per player would be paid as a reward. It is a testament that the public is concentrating not only on the skills of athletes representing the country but also on their stories.
In the existing system of sacrificing many for the sake of a small group called “elite,” the current sport is to have a thick player base by expanding the base of live sports and adjusting the structure so that players with skills can emerge from among them. Therefore, it is hard to deny that this method is becoming more advanced and future-oriented.
