"Lack of student-athlete training? I don't even have time to rest" Weekend League Suspended for 15 Years, Who Is the System for [Korean Baseball Caught Up With Taiwan②]

*This content was translated by AI.

At the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), the most frustrating time for the Korean national baseball team was the defeat against Taiwan.

It was the first defeat in WBC history, with two consecutive international tournaments against Taiwan after a 3-6 defeat in the group stage of the 2024 Premier 12 tournament. There was a view that Korea could lose to Taiwan early on. High school coach A, who met with Star News at the site before the start of the WBC, said, "Taiwan is no match for Taiwan right now. "Ten or 15 years ago, our high school teams and Taiwanese professional teams were worth competing against, but now it's not easy," he shook his head.

It was the amount of training of student players that was mentioned as one of the reasons why Taiwanese baseball caught up with Korean baseball. Unlike Taiwanese baseball, which spends a lot of time on training as in the past, Korea has reduced absolute training time a lot. As a result, there are many opinions that it is regressing in basic aspects such as defense, which requires a lot of training. High school coach B said, "Basically, there is a little difference in skills between Taiwanese prospects of the same age and our players. He also hinted, "If you look at Taiwanese players now, they are strong, but the amount of training is more than twice as much."

The weekend league system, which was introduced in 2011 and does not change, is a problem for field leaders. When the weekend league was introduced 15 years ago, the purpose was good. In the reality that very few go professional, the government wanted to give a basic right to learn so that a large number of students who did not become professionals could quit exercising and live as a member of society. There was also a deep meaning to reduce the number of competitions to prevent players from overwork and injuries and to make children grow like children. However, at this point, many point out that it is neither me nor me, that it cannot prevent the players from getting injured and that the right to learn is just empty.

High school manager C, who has been at the high school baseball field for decades, said, "The current system began with the aim of caring for and protecting children, but rather, the frequency of surgery is twice as much now as when I was the first leader." "In the past, I had a lot of time to sharpen my basic physical strength and defense, such as running and catching. These days, however, schools that do not have light facilities in the playground finish classes at 4 o'clock and end training in three to four hours, so there is absolutely no time for such basic training," he added.

It is pointed out that the administration of convenient adults without considering reality darkens the future of children and Korean sports. Some say that unlike humanities students for college entrance, a curriculum focused on subjects essential for social life is necessary. Some field leaders have been appealing this point to school-visiting scholars for years, but it's a homage.

High school coach B said, "Of course, student players have to study and build basic skills as a member of society. However, in reality, it is not easy for student-athletes to follow the classes of general humanities students. It's good to learn a lot, but the reality is that you enter and leave the classroom mechanically," he said. Parents who exercise also do not want such a situation. Recently, in Japan, like us, it has been for the right to learn for student-athletes, but it is returning to an environment where they can focus on exercise as before," he added.

Some argue that not only the lack of training but also the right to rest was not guaranteed. Currently, high school baseball teams take classes until the afternoon and train until the evening. On the weekend, I go to the weekend league game where the entrance examination is at stake. Of course, playing two games on their own on weekends can give them a break from training during the week, but even that is not easy when they enter the national competition.

High school director B lamented, "When students go home after training during the week, it is past 11 p.m., and they have to come to school by 7:30 a.m. to take another class the next morning." "As a result, the sleeping time is about 6 hours and the children are inevitably injured because they do not get enough rest. "If you get injured frequently, you also have problems with growth," he added.

It is not only on-site leaders who insist on guaranteeing student players the right to rest through a smooth weekend league reorganization. Trainer D, who has raised a number of professional baseball players, said, "I think the most urgent task in baseball right now is to guarantee the right to rest. He pointed out that he switched to the weekend league for the right to study, but the reality is that students' time to rest has also disappeared as they played games even on weekends.

He said, "We have to play night games during the week. Naturally, there are areas that need to be solved, such as the playground problem, the referee, and the transfer of recorders. But there are enough ways to make it. Children need proper rest. I'm also in the position that I really need the right to learn, but at the same time, I don't know why I don't want to guarantee the right to rest."

For student-athletes to rest, it is also a way to play one of the weekend games during the week. In order to play during the week, you need a space to play baseball during the week. There are many schools without a playground, let alone a light, in schools with a baseball team. Rather, the weekend league schedule has become tighter for the growing number of new baseball teams, and the timing of the tournament has been advanced to early March, when it is cold, increasing the possibility of players' injuries.

It's not even the first point that came out. When the weekend league was introduced, field leaders and parents hoped to introduce it after having a clear and systematic system because of the lack of infrastructure such as baseball stadiums and training facilities and the weekend league operation regulations do not conform to the reality of Korean education. Even if the introduction of the weekend league itself is necessary and inevitable, it is pointed out that it is regrettable that it is passive about the change, even though it has consistently voiced improvement on the ground for the next 15 years.

High school coach C said, "Nothing has changed since the weekend league has been established. There is a way to guarantee sufficient training time by increasing the weekend league from the current 50 days to 100 days, but it has been almost the same way for 15 years," he lamented.

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*This content was translated by AI.