By Kim Jae-won
Staff Reporter
They have garnered the moniker ``Beautiful Football," a new-age spin on the game traditionally referred to as the ``Beautiful Game."
And there will be none of the brute strength or male physique of the K-League on show but perhaps the lithe strides and curvier shapes of a gymnast as they get ready to make their official bow on Monday
For the Korea Women's Football League (KWFL) is to debut in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, with a match between Hyundai Steel Red Angels and Daekyo Kangaroos the start of the new set up's seven-month season.
Managers and players from six clubs ― Hyundai Steel, Daekyo, Seoul Amazones, Chungnam Chunma, Busan Sangmu and Suwon ― welcomed the country's first professional women's football league in Seoul on Wednesday.
Education business company Daekyo signed up to become the title sponsor of the KWFL, which will see each team play 20 games. and
Three games are to take place at 7 p.m. every Monday at the different venues, with KBS N Sports to broadcast one of the matches each week.
The league will take a break from July and resume from Aug. 17th, then continue until November. The all-star game is scheduled for Aug. 3 and the two championship matches will take place on Nov. 9 and 16.
Korea Women's Football Federation (KWFF) made the slogan "Beautiful Football" for the league to represent the dual characteristics of female beauty and the quality of the women's game.
"The league will definitely help Korean women's football grow and make a positive impact on the grassroots," Korea KWFF President Oh Kyu-sang said. He hopes the KWFL will grow to gradually catch up with advanced leagues such as the L-league in Japan.
``We are prepared to win the first year's cup,'' said Ahn Jong-goan, the manager of last year's exhibition league runner-up Hyundai.
"I am happy to participate in this wonderful league and hopefully our team could win the inaugural championship later this year," Kangaroos player Ryu Ji-eun added.
Drawing particular interest is former national team player Lee Mi-yun, the first female manager, and her team Sangmu, where the entire staff is female, including coach Jin Sook-hee and Cho Mi-hee.
``I want to contribute to the development of Korean women's football as the first female manager,'' Lee, 34, said ``I want to claim at least five wins in total 20 games." To that end, the military club has three training sessions per day, with its eight rookies having had military training for 14 weeks.
Elsewhere, just last week Daekyo lost striker Park Hee-young and midfielder Cha Yun-hee after loaning them to SC 07 Bad Neuenahr in the German Bundesliga first division last week, the first time for a Korean woman to go to a European league.
To fill the void, Kangaroos are to sign Brazilian forward Delma Goncalves known as Pretinha from L-League club INAC Leonessa. ``She has good technique and quick speed,'' Daekyo manager Park Nam-yul told The Korea Times on Thursday.
South Korea's female footballers have been improving at international level. The national team claimed second spot at the Four Nations Tournament in Guangzhou, China, in January and took the East Asia Women's Football Championship title in 2005. In 2003, they qualified for the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Women's World Cup in the United States.
Among the other Asian-Pacific region countries running women's football leagues are China with its Super League, Australia with the Westfied W-League and North Korea.