[Disabled Baseball Today] ③ Selected for the National Team, But Unable to Play

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

StarNews is running a five-part column series on disabled sports titled "Disabled Baseball Today" in collaboration with Pastor Kang Yu-gyeom, an expert in disabled baseball. In this column, Pastor Kang Yu-gyeom plans to address content related to the "World Championship of Disabled Baseball." We clarify that StarNews has no involvement in the content of the serialized columns, which represent solely the author's opinions. (Editor's note)

Selection for the national team is the result of long-term training and effort. It is the fruit and harvest of the sweat shed throughout the summer. For an athlete, the Taegeuk mark is a symbol of recognition for the time they have walked, and it is also a great joy for their family and teammates.

However, if the joy of selection does not lead to actual participation in games, we must reconsider the meaning of that system.

Over approximately 12 years of activity as a member of the Republic of Korea disabled baseball national team, I have experienced the fact that a gap can arise between selected players and those who actually take the field. In particular, it is not an issue to be taken lightly that players with relatively severe disabilities are repeatedly included in the representative team but do not receive sufficient opportunities to compete.

Of course, not every player can participate in every game. In international tournaments, various factors must be considered, including the opponent's strength, game situations, positions, and the player's condition and safety. Demanding that playing time be divided equally for each game would not be a realistic solution either. The representative team is also a team that must achieve results through competition.

However, if opportunities to compete are concentrated on some players over a long period, the story changes. It must be possible to verify whether such decisions are based on performance and tactics, made according to clear criteria, and sufficiently explained to the players. If the criteria are unknown and the decision-making process is not explained, it is difficult for players to trust fairness.

In disabled sports, the degree of disability and conditions for game participation are also important considerations. Players must not be excluded from actual games solely because their disability is severe. This does not mean that participation should be decided based solely on the degree of disability. We must find ways to allow more players to gain substantial game experience while considering the characteristics of the game and safety.

What is important in operating a representative team is not filling out the selection list. It is helping selected players grow through training, accumulate game experience, and demonstrate their skills. Players who do not get to compete need to be explained why, and guided on what they should prepare for future opportunities.

The World Championship is an opportunity that does not often come to athletes. If one cannot take the field in a tournament prepared for over four years of waiting, the sense of loss will not be small. This is why the meaning of being a national representative must not end merely with having one's name on the list.

Above all, disabled sports are a challenge to possibility, a memory in an athlete's life, and above all, they should aim for the trophy of moving together. Look at other teams. People without arms, without legs, and those who cannot walk come together on the field. And players from five countries lift up the trophy of moving together.

What athletes need is not an unconditional guarantee of participation, but a fair opportunity to compete. And it is criteria by which one can verify whether that competition was fair. When reviewing the entire process of representative team operation from selection to participation, the name "national representative" can also gain greater trust.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original