Kim Yeon-kyung received the ‘Athlete of the Year Award’ at the Korea Sports Writers Association awards ceremony./Korea Press Center = Reporter Lee Bo-mi
[마이데일리 = 한국프레스센터 이보미 기자] “I will do meaningful work for the development of volleyball in the future.” These are the words of Kim Yeon-kyung.
Kim Yeon-kyung won the Athlete of the Year award at the ‘Korea Sports Journalists Association Awards Ceremony’ held at the Korea Press Center on the afternoon of the 8th.
This is an award chosen by sports reporters. Following Woo Sang-hyuk in high jump in 2022, Ahn Se-young in badminton in 2023, and Kim Woo-min in swimming in 2024, Kim Yeon-kyung was selected as the fourth winner in history.
Kim Yeon-kyung took off her player uniform at the end of the 2024-2025 season. In May 2025, he won the V-League championship as a member of Heungkuk Life Insurance and made the ‘Last Dance’ a happy ending.
Kim Yeon-kyung, who met the reporters at the awards ceremony that day, said, “I am honored to receive an award in my last year as a player. Although my journey as a player is over, I will continue my love and responsibility for volleyball. In the future, I will do meaningful things for the younger players and for the development of volleyball and sports.”
Kim Yeon-kyung has had busier days since retirement. Kim Yeon-kyung explained, “I retired in April, but since then, I have filmed a volleyball entertainment program and also run the Kim Yeon-kyung Foundation. I am doing various things related to sports.”
In particular, in the volleyball entertainment program ‘Rookie Coach Kim Yeon-kyung’, he actually became the head coach of the ‘Winning Wonder Dogs’. Season 1 ended successfully, recording high viewership ratings.
Kim Yeon-kyung said with a smile, “I think volleyball has been greatly promoted with the new coach Kim Yeon-kyung. Recently, following Na-yeon Na-yeon, Incusi has been recruited to the professional team. I expect more fans to show interest in volleyball.”
After the broadcast, interest in ‘Leader Kim Yeon-kyung’ is also high. Kim Yeon-kyung said honestly, “Although it was broadcasting, I felt that it was not an easy position to be in as a director. It has just been a while since I retired. I still haven’t decided what I want to do. I want to try all the different opportunities and gain experience.”
Finally, Kim Yeon-kyung even left a greeting to end the year, saying, “I hope you all have a good year-end and a happy new year.”
Reporter Lee Bo-mi bboo0om@mydaily.co.kr
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