[OSEN=서정환 기자] Many high school students are flocking to Hongcheon with basketballs.
‘NH Nonghyup Bank 2025-2026 KXO 3×3 Hongcheon STOP’ was held at the Hongcheon-gun National Sports Center in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province on the 20th. This competition will be held over two days in four categories, including U15, U18, Men’s Open, and KXO STOP.
This competition, hosted by KXO (Chairman Park Geon-yeon), is sponsored by Hongcheon-gun (Governor Shin Young-jae) and Hongcheon-gun Sports Association (Chairman Shin Eun-seop). KXO, which has held six domestic competitions and three international competitions this year, starting with KXO 3×3 Hongcheon STOP 1 last February, will complete its schedule for 2025 with this Hongcheon STOP.
The fiercest competition in this tournament is in the U18 division. According to the organizers, the U18 division boasted such enthusiasm that the competition was closed within 5 minutes of registration. A total of 55 teams applied, leaving 40 teams on the waiting list. Why is there a sudden basketball boom among high school students?
I met with the CHC A team that participated in the U18 division and heard about their situation. CHC A, based in the Cheongju area, consisted of captains Jo Jeong-woo (Geumcheon High School 2), Kang Yu-hwan (Ochang High School 3), Nam David (Cheongju Technical High School 1), and Lim Su-min (Daejeon Boksu High School 3). CHC A showed overwhelming skills from the first game of the preliminary round, defeating Scoopter00 22-6.
Jo Jeong-woo laughed, saying, “I tend to participate in all KXO competitions. I mainly practiced 3-on-3. Applying for this competition was difficult. We formed a team from the time the notice was posted and prepared to apply right away. It was the last KXO competition of the year, so it seems like everyone gathered after the final exams. Some people even finished their college entrance exams.”
Even the cold weather could not stop his passion for basketball. In the middle of winter, I devoted myself to training for 3-4 hours on an outdoor court. Jo Jeong-woo said, “It was the last competition of the year, so I practiced a lot to help my 3rd graders win. There was no indoor court, so I exercised for 3-4 hours on the outdoor court wearing only short sleeves.”
The enormous passion soon turned out to be fruitful. CHC A won the first game with accurate 3-point shooting. Jo Jeong-woo confidently said, “We practiced shooting a lot and our team shot well. The 190cm Lim Soo-min grabbed the rebound well and won. Our opponent in the second game was a good team. If we shoot 3-pointers with confidence and play hard defense, we can win. Our goal for the tournament is to win.”
At this competition, KXO set up a booth where participating players could take commemorative photos with the support of Four Cuts of Life. Many players left memories by taking free photos. Life Four Cuts received a great response by providing free photos to all athletes.
An official from Four Cuts of Life welcomed the event, saying, “It is meaningful because it can become a good memory for the players. Fortunately, the response is good.” / [email protected]
