OK Financial Group will revitalize school sports clubs using rugby.
On the 28th, the OK Baejeong Scholarship Foundation announced that it would operate a rugby-specific program on the campus of Hwimun High School in Seoul together with the Korea Rugby Association. The OK Baejeong Scholarship Foundation is a foundation funded by OK Financial Group affiliates such as OK Savings Bank and OK Capital. The ‘Whimungo Early Bird Rugby Program’, which is operated as an official school special program, is scheduled to run for about an hour from 7 am, before the regular curriculum, and will run for a total of 11 weeks until the end of December. Rugby sports include ▲ physical strength and leadership development, ▲ improvement of English foreign language skills, and ▲ various merits when studying abroad. The coaching team, made up of two foreign professional rugby instructors, will educate students on ▲catch and passing techniques ▲game management strategies ▲basic physical strength training, etc. It is also expected to contribute to the improvement of abilities.
Rugby is also known as a sport that plays a big role in helping students adapt to the local community even when studying abroad. An official from the OK Baejeong Scholarship Foundation said, “In order to foster ‘exercise elite students’ who can exercise and study at the same time, classes are suspended during the mid-term exam period, and it was conducted before the first class to increase the utilization of students’ time. It is important to learn healthy physical strength and character based on consideration and cooperation through sports,” explained the purpose of the program.
The number of participants in the early bird rugby program at Whimungo, which will be implemented for the first time this year, is 60, which is more than double the number of people originally expected. The foundation explains that this comes from not only the various merits that can be gained through participation in the rugby program, but also because Korean rugby recently drew a lot of attention from students by directing the ‘miracle try’ at the Tokyo Olympics. To this end, the Korea Rugby Association decided to actively cooperate with its chairman OK Financial Group, main partners LG Electronics and Shinhan Bank for the successful operation of the school rugby club. OK Financial Group, the president of the Korea Rugby Association, and LG Electronics and Shinhan Bank, its main partners, provide scholarships for the operation of the school rugby club, thereby revitalizing the school rugby club and expanding the rugby base. The Korea Rugby Association sponsors various equipment and training supplies necessary for the operation of the rugby club. Whimoon High School expects to provide more options to students by adding a new sport of rugby to the school’s special program, including the provision of a training ground.
In the future, OK Financial Group and Korea Rugby Association plan to actively cooperate so that rugby can be introduced and operated as a sports club in more prestigious schools, starting with Whimoon High School. Through this, a long-term ‘blueprint’ was also established to establish a ‘Rugby Ivy League (tentative name)’ where many school rugby clubs can compete fairly and interact with each other. Through this, the OK Baejeong Scholarship Foundation and the Rugby Association will lead the physical and mental growth of students as well as academics, ultimately contributing to the healthy and correct growth of dream trees. Through the operation of sports clubs, it is expected that the leap beyond ‘cognitive sports’ to ‘popular sports’ will be further accelerated.
Yoon Choi, Chairman of the OK Baejeong Scholarship Foundation (Chairman of the Korea Rugby Association) said, “Rugby is a very attractive sport that can provide various benefits to growing dreamers. We hope that it will become a cornerstone of rugby in Korea while nurturing elite students who can exercise.”
Reporter Song Yoo-geun
