It is a corner to visit middle and high school basketball, which is the root of Korean basketball. The fifth school I visited in 2024 is Gyeseong High School, which boasts a 100-year history in the basketball team. Gyeseong High School, which is known for its basketball history and pride in Daegu, continued to make a name known in the amateur basketball league, but it slowed down for a while. Recently, Gyeseong High School showed off its pride and stretching amid the phenomenon of concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area. He headed to Daegu to find Gyeseong High School where history and tradition live and breathe.
A Page of the History of Gyeseong High School’s Basketball Club Begins
Currently, Kyesung High School is coached by Kim Jong-wan and Nam Jeong-soo. Both of them graduated from Kyesung Middle School and High School. Kim returned to his alma mater on Jan. 1, 2001, as a coach for the basketball team. Since then, he has led the basketball team, leading many students and juniors. “I was actually looking for something other than basketball. That’s when I got a call from Kyesung High School, and I started my leadership career,” Kim said. 동행복권파워볼
Thus, Kim started his career as a coach before his peers, and spent 24 years as a coach of Gyeseong High School. He has led the 30-year history of the basketball team including those of middle and high school players. “I was a senior in high school in 1991. Of course, I used to exercise without electricity, air conditioner, or heater. During the summer, I felt suffocated, and during the winter, I used to exercise by blowing my hands and melting them. At night, I would depend on small heat to do individual exercises,” Kim said in the past.
Kyesung High School opened in 1906. The basketball team started in 1922 and boasts a history of more than 100 years. It participated in a national competition in 1934, and in 1975, Kyesung High School became the first provincial team to win three gold medals. As time passed, Kyesung High School won three gold medals again in 2011 and two gold medals in 2012.
Manager Kim Jong-wan said, “I did my best. They were my students and juniors who tried to learn at least one thing even though they were in a difficult situation. They were mature technically and mentally,” recalling their students who won three gold medals in 2011. The players who led the Kyesung High School at the time were Choi Chang-jin, Park In-tae, Choi Seung-wook, Maeng Sang-hoon, and Kwon Seong-jin, who are currently active or retired professionals.
Choi Seung-wook from Samsung in Seoul said, “I remember having a hard time due to many sports, but I think I was comfortable because my performance was good. I remember having fun playing basketball with my teammates.” He added, “At the alumni meeting, many older brothers worked out together to encourage and cheer me up.” There was no support from their juniors. “I heard we are doing well in second place, but we are still not good enough because we have won three consecutive games (laughs),” Choi said. “I was constantly interested in them. Although we have not performed well in recent years, we are doing well this year. I hope we can work harder and win the championship.”
Coach Nam Jeong-su joined the team in 2022. “I was officially appointed by the school as I have been coaching for a long time. I take exams and enter administrative positions to take charge of the sports department,” Kim said. That’s how he became coach Kim Jong-wan and is still coaching juniors along with coach Nam Jeong-su.
Coach Kim Jong-wan is also working on another task for the basketball team of Gyeseong High School. He is collecting and storing the history of the basketball team and organizing data. Until 2015, Gyeseong Middle and High School stayed right next to Seomun Market and in Daeshin-dong, but moved the teacher to its current location of Sangri-dong in March 2016. However, since there is no gym, Gyeseong High School works out at the Gyeseong Middle School Gymnasium. When a gym is built in Gyeseong High School someday, the basketball team’s history hall will be located on the side of the gym.