Choi Ye-won is developing her dream of becoming a basketball player.
Soongeui Girls’ High School will participate in the 2023 Federation President’s National Men’s and Women’s Middle and High School Basketball Championship held in Gimcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do from May 2nd to 10th.
Located in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, Soongui Girls’ High School is a prestigious women’s basketball school familiar to basketball fans. Leading by Park Chan-sook and Kim Young-hee, who won the silver medal at the 1984 LA Olympics, it produced a large number of outstanding athletes such as Kim Gye-ryeong, Bae Hye-yoon, and Park Ji-hyun.
Currently, at Soongui Girls’ High School, juniors who have a lot of potential are working tirelessly to follow in the footsteps of their seniors. Choi Ye-won, a freshman who just entered this year, is one of them.
The father of Choi Ye-won, who is a basketball player, is Choi Gyeong-hoon, a founding member of the KBL Seoul SK Knights, and Songlim-cho coach. Choi Ye-won’s start in basketball was also influenced by her father, who was a former player.
Choi Ye-won said, “My father is a professional basketball player, so I watched basketball a few times and thought it was cool, so I started. At first, all the scoring scenes looked cool, but since I played basketball myself, stealing while defending was also really cool and thrilling. Now I’m still I had the most fun in it,” he said.
She is Choi Ye-won, who transferred to Soong’s middle school when she was in middle school. As she moved schools, she also experienced a change in growing more than 6cm, she says.
Choi Ye-won said, “Before I transferred, I was a guard in middle school. After the transfer, I grew taller and played a variety of positions. It was fun rather than confusing. Even thinking about it, the experience accumulated has become an opportunity for me to grow further. I am still playing without much distinction between guard and forward, but I want to become a player who can handle both 2 and 3 times.”
One of Choi Ye-won’s biggest challenges after entering high school is to play with confidence. Choi Ye-won’s goal is to go professional after graduating from high school.
She said, Choi Ye-won,크크크벳 “I was scolded by the coach for showing no confidence and only looking for older sisters. I heard a lot of words to be confident. He told me to do it with confidence because I can do it in attack.”
When asked to select his strengths and points to be supplemented, he said, “My strengths are that I have long height, arms, and legs. I plan to grow up and try not to be easily pushed back in physical fights.”
Recently, she said, she had a dream of being selected for the U-16 national team and wearing the Taegeuk mark.
Choi Ye-won said, “I had an injury to the sternum during the winter training camp, so I had regrets until the first spring tournament, but now I’m recovering well and preparing. I have a strong desire to represent the country wearing the Taegeuk mark. I will try my best to match the basketball that you seek.”
Choi Ye-won picked Park Hye-jin of Woori Bank as her role model. Choi Ye-won’s dream is to become a player like Park Hye-jin, who can serve as an example for others while she is a master of karate and defense.
Choi Ye-won said, “Park Hye-jin is my role model. He shoots well and feels relaxed in his play. He saves his teammates while making individual attacks. I’ve wanted to do that since I was a kid. I want to follow the example of Park Ji-hyun, my senior at Soongui Girls’ High School. He is a tall player, but I want to be like him who breaks through quickly and shoots well.”
She continued, “If I go to the pros, I want to become a good karate and defense player who can throw well and defend well. My dream is to become a player that my juniors want to emulate even if I go pro, like my role model Park Hye-jin.”