South Korea’s struggling national volleyball team has a new coach.
The Korea Volleyball Association (KVA) announced on Monday that Isanay Ramirez (40, Brazil), the current head coach of Pakistan’s men’s national team, and Fernando Morales (42, Puerto Rico), the current head coach of Puerto Rico’s women’s national team, have been named head coaches of the men’s national team. The appointments run through 2026.
Ramirez, who takes charge of the men’s national team, has coached Brazil and Bahrain. He also coached Pakistan to a 3-0 victory over South Korea at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. He will be joined by fellow Brazilian Marco Keiro, 58, who will coach South Korea.
Morales, the new head coach of the women’s team, is a former setter for the Puerto Rico national team.
She was promoted from assistant coach to head coach shortly after the Puerto Rico Women’s National Team failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, 안전놀이터 and has led a team that was weakened by generational changes to a current world ranking of No. 16. Joining Morales on the Korean team will be Jesus Echeverria, 39, who coached the Puerto Rico Women’s National Team alongside Morales.
The new men’s and women’s national team coaches will focus on the national team full-time, and when they are not called upon to coach the national team, they will be involved in various activities to develop Korean volleyball, including analyzing domestic players, coaching youth players, exchanging domestic coaches, and studying international volleyball trends, the federation said.