Busan I-Park won the Education Mecenat Tower at the 15th Education Mecenat Award Ceremony, a regional representative education donation ceremony co-hosted by the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education, Busan Metropolitan City, the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Busan Daily.
At the awards ceremony held on the 16th at the International Conference Room of the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education, Busan I-Park received the ‘Education Mecenat Tower’, which is awarded to an institution that has provided more than 100 million in annual support and talent donation activities.
The Education Mecenat Tower is an award given to institutions, companies, and organizations that breathe together with the local community and spread a culture of sharing love for education.
The Busan club contributed to the creation and spread of sports viewing culture by inviting local students to professional home games. In the 2022 season alone, a total of 50 schools and 1,000 students were invited, including general students such as Geumjeong Middle School and Silla University, as well as youth soccer clubs from schools such as Suyeong Middle School and Yeonsan SC.
In addition, the Busan club also conducted a ‘School Attack’ project to encourage young players by visiting the alma mater of professional players from Busan. In the future, we plan to spare no effort to spread sports culture and expand the base through education in connection with schools and educational institutions in the region.
The Busan club signed industry-university cooperation with local universities such as Dongseo University, Dongeui University of Science, and Shilla University, and invited students to the stadium and clubhouse tour. It helped college students to have time to learn about the work of professional sports clubs and provided opportunities for career exploration.
Subsequently, Busan strengthened the youth development system by signing an agreement with the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education to operate a sports club specializing in advanced school athletics. Since last year, the final decision was made to transform the club into a professional sports club through close consultations between the Office of Education, schools, and clubs.
In addition, the players who grew up through the youth development program took the lead in promoting the educational culture of Busan internally and externally by going through representatives by age. This year, Busan U15 Nakdong Middle School Kim Ji-woo and Jeong Su-ho were selected for the U13 national team, and Busan U18 Gaeseong High School Kim Yoo-rae and Oh Joo-an were selected for the U16 national team, proving this.
Cho Wi-je and Kwon Hyeok-gyu, who were selected for the Olympic team and showed good performances in the game, played an active part in the youth team under Busan I-Park throughout the entire process of elementary, middle, and high school youth. Hong Wook-hyun and Lee Hyeon-joon (semi-professional), who competed as national teams by age, were also from the Busan I-Park youth team. Midfielder Kim Jin-kyu, who went through Shilla Middle School and Gaesong High School, entered the professional team and was selected as a national team member, also played an active part in Busan youth. 안전놀이터
Busan U18 Kaesong High School won the 2022 Busan MBC National High School Football Championship and finished third in the K-League Youth Championship co-hosted by the Korea Football Association and the Korea Professional Football Federation. It was also a special honor to participate as a Busan representative in the 103rd National Sports Festival. Busan U15 Nakdong Middle School made a splendid feat of winning the runner-up at the 2022 Spring National Middle School Football Championship, and continued its success this year by participating in the 51st National Youth Sports Festival as a representative of Busan.
As a reward for winning the U17 K-League Youth Championship in 2019, Busan I-Park youths visited Spain this year to learn about Spain’s advanced soccer system and prepare a special opportunity. As a professional sports club representing Busan, it is part of an effort to achieve greater growth in the future by strengthening internal stability from youth.
Busan IPark CEO Kim Byung-seok said, “As a professional sports club representing the Busan region, we will continue our efforts to protect the dreams and hopes of Busan students through various activities. I would like to ask for your anticipation and support for next year.