*This content was translated by AI.
South Korea's future softball talents will broaden their horizons through an exchange match with Japan's top high school teams.
The Korea Baseball and Softball Association (KBSA) announced on the 21st that, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea National Sport University Foundation, it will implement the '2026 Softball National Team Candidate Summer Training Camp (hereinafter referred to as the training camp)' and the 'Korea-Japan Youth Sports Exchange Program (hereinafter referred to as the Korea-Japan exchange).'
The KBSA will conduct the training camp from July 21 to July 30 at Gijang Hyundai Dream Ball Park. The training camp will include a total of 19 national team candidate players, ranging from first-year promising athletes such as Kim Ha-na (Seoul Sinjeong High School), who won three crowns including MVP, Choi U-su-seon (수상), Woo Su-tu (수상), and stolen base awards at the '26th Peace Unification Cup National Softball Tournament' last year; Yoo Soo-ah (Seoul Sinjeong High School), who received home run and sportsmanship awards; Lee Se-bin and Lee Chae-ha (Seoul Sinjeong High School); and Han Chae-yul (Chungbuk National University Affiliated High School).
The training camp will be overseen by former head coach An Yeon-soon, who is responsible for developing future national team players in softball. The program will focus on assessing the players' skills and enhancing their game sense ahead of the Korea-Japan exchange. In particular, it aims to strengthen team cohesion and maximize performance through position-specific training and a practice-oriented curriculum.
After completing the training camp, the candidate player group will depart for Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, on July 30 to participate in the Korea-Japan Youth Sports Exchange Program. There, they will hold an exchange match with 'Himeji University Sumanoura High School,' which is regarded as Japan's top high school softball team. The school was the champion of the 44th All-Japan Girls' High School Softball Tournament. The candidate players are expected to accumulate international competition experience and master advanced softball techniques through this exchange, while also laying the groundwork for improved performance.
Former head coach An Yeon-soon stated, "As this training camp is conducted ahead of the Korea-Japan exchange, we will ensure thorough preparation to build competitiveness that does not fall behind Japan," and added, "We will do our utmost to help the players grow one step further through this opportunity."
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*This content was translated by AI.
