Exciting Weekend Sports School is a program that provides quality athletic instruction to students on the weekends. The program takes place both inside and outside of school. In-school programs focus on gym and playground sports. Outside of school, programs include horseback riding, surfing, bowling, skiing, swimming, fencing, squash, and ice skating.
The Exciting Weekend Sports School was launched in 2014. It aims to revitalize school sports, promote student health, and improve the quality of life through the realization of one sport per youth. The project targets elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide, as well as youth of the same age who are not attending school.
There are 2,000 in-school programs this year. About 1,700 out-of-school programs are scheduled. Classes are typically held in two-hour blocks on Saturday mornings or during the day. This is a time when adults are less likely to exercise. A safe location, environment, and professional instructors make for a good program.
In-school programs consist of a total of 30 weeks in the first and second semesters. Each class lasts two hours and has 10 to 20 participants. Participants must be students at the school. The out-of-school program runs for 30 weeks, with 15 weeks in the first half and 15 weeks in the second half. Participation is open to all students, regardless of whether they are enrolled in school or not, and regardless of geographic location. Applications are accepted online and are limited to a maximum of 15 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Out-of-school youth will be prioritized within the 15% capacity.
The instructors are professionals who have secured certain levels required by the Korean Sports Federation, such as a life coaching license and certifications in their respective sports. “In addition to the legal education, they must also receive training on youth coaching,” said Lim Han-jeong, head of the Korean Sports Federation, “and most of them are veterans who have been coaching youth in their respective sports for a long time.”
Safety is the most important thing when exercising. The KFA has taken out organizational liability insurance through the Sports Safety Foundation, which operates the country’s top sports insurance product. “It covers not only medical treatment but also compensation if necessary,” says Min Sung-sik, a deputy director of the KFA. “If an outside instructor goes to a school, the KFA takes out a separate insurance policy because it is not covered by the School Safety Mutual Aid Society,” he says.
The program is free of charge. The program is funded by the government. The budget for 2023 is 20 billion won. “Parents who have participated once want to give their children another chance, so they wait for the right time without telling other parents,” said Min. “Sometimes parents in the waiting list even ask to add their children.” “Most of the students who sign up for the program enjoy it until the end,” says Min, adding that many parents ask for more 토토사이트 time, more people, and more sessions. In 2019, 1.7 million people (cumulatively) participated in in-school programs at a total of 4,296 schools, and 610,000 people (cumulatively) participated in 1711 out-of-school programs. “Participation has recovered from the post-COVID-19 lull,” said Lim, “and we expect this year to be closer to 2019 levels.”
Exciting Weekend Sports School has an online website (sat.sportal.or.kr). The website lists training locations, contact information, and program descriptions by region and year.