Korean Job Discussion Forums

[PastSeoul]

I previously posted this in the Off-Topic forum, but it was suggested to me that more people might see it here:

Hi Everyone,

There is going to be a meeting on March 13th at 4:00pm Sam Ryan's Sports Pub regarding playing tackle football for this team. There will also be another meeting on March 20th at the same time for any people who can't be there the weekend before.

As some of you may or may not know, there is an established American Tackle Football League in Korea. The KNFL is a league which has been playing for a while and allows foreigners to play in Korea, which a few of us have. The KNFL even plays some of its games on TV on the XSports channel.

For various reasons, I have decided to organize a completely independant team of players. The KNFL currently has restrictions on how many foreigners can play on the field at a time. I am going to petition to the KNFL to allow us to play in that league, but I am not sure how that petition will work out. I am hopeful considering that I, and other people that are going to be involved with the team, have a considerable number of contacts within the Korean community and will be able to convince the KNFL to let us play in the league, but there is nothing that guarantees that we can play in the league. The KNFL typically runs from late September until early January with games happening every 2 or 3 weeks. If we can't play in this league because we have too many foreigners, the schedule for the team will consist of mainly exhibition games again the various 7 men's team here in Korea, or the 25 (approx.) university teams in Korea. I would hope to have about 10-12 games a year, but perhaps not that many in our first season.

Previously the two Seoul based teams in the KNFL, the Caps and the Vikings, have had most of the foreigners who played football in the KNFL. However most, if not all, of the foreigners on those teams have decided to join this team. There are also players who are going to play on this team from places as far away as Chuncheon, Chengju, and Yeosu. Please don't think that you have to be from Seoul to join this team, it will just require a bit more time for you if you are out of Seoul. There are a lot of people who are really serious about joining this team and making it a success.

Personally I will be coaching and administrating the team. I have a lot of experience within football, from all aspects within the sport. The people who already know about this team know me and my familiarity with the sport. I will also have an executive committee of hopefully 8 players who will be responsible for discussing team issues and helping to make decisions that are best for the team and its future. This veterans committee will be people who I am familiar with and hopefully some new people who I am not familiar with.

I hope to model our team somewhat after the Seoul Survivors rugby club in that we will probably play mainly exhibition games within Korea, and probably play 1 or 2 games overseas a year. After we establish our reputation within Asia, teams will want to come to Korea and play us here, much like our rugby counterparts now enjoy. My plan is to have a 12 week spring program, starting April 3rd weekend going through until June 19th. The first two weeks would just be for conditioning and throwing the ball around at practice and drills. We would put the pads on for the first time April 17th weekend. Hopefully we could play two exhibition games in June. We will take an 8 week break because of vacations and the sweltering heat here from June 20th until August 21st. Then we will have practices and games from August until hopefully January if we play in the Korean league, or at least November if we can't.

I have two very good, but seperate, contacts about getting equipment for players at a very good price. Our third and last resort, which I do not forsee us having to use, is a Korean company in Busan which typically imports football equipment.

We will have a lot of costs that we will incur throughout the year. Renting fields, buses, airfare, hotels. referees etc. all will be things that will be discussed at the meeting. I have secured one sponsor for the team already, who will help us with our costs, and I will also be approaching some other companies that I know and see if I can get more sponsorship. As players we are going to definitely have to pay for some of these things ourselves, as well as the equipment. My basic advice: if you are drinking away your whole pay each weekend, you probably can't afford this. If you want a great stress relieving activity and the camraderie of a great group of guys who share common goals and interests, start saving a bit of money now. We will have a team account that everybody will contribute to equally.

Finally, my most important point. This is going to be a football team that plays hard, both on and off the field. I don't care what level anyone is as a player, there will be a spot for you on the team in some capacity. Playing time will be influenced by how many people join us. I, like most, want to win, but I also want everyone to participate. We will talk more about this at the meetings.

The email address that you can get a hold of me at will be [email protected]. There is also going to be a Google Buzz page which I will post and update later. Don't PM me here at this site as this account is too new to reply to you.

[frankly speaking]

When you lose your job for coming to work with broken bones and bruises on your face, can I have your job?

[coralreefer_1]

I have thought the same thing for a few years now, although what you have in mind sounds a bit more serious than what I envisioned. A facebook type group of guys who want to play and actually make contact sounds awesome, but overseas trips or trying to organize exhibition games is more than I want to be a part of.

Either way..hope it works out for you.

[PastSeoul]

[PastSeoul]

[whome33]

sounds like a great way to get some exercise, meet some people and take out some frustration. korean opponents, you say?

[mateomiguel]

[PastSeoul]

[beast]

Hi Pastseoul,

On one hand, I want to sign up right away. It's what I've been waiting for so long. On the other hand, I just can't imagine a group of thirty guys, or more, getting together two or three times a week to practice and then also make the game on the weekends. Our schedules are all different and so tight. Can you honestly foresee everyone sticking to a schedule. It would be really frustrating to put in the time and the effort and money, just to see the whole thing disintegrate because people can't show up at a given time or date.

[PastSeoul]

[whome33]

i think it's possible to find 30 guys who love football enough to commit to once a week. especially if practces are saturdays, not sundays.
iv seen it over and over that people talk about doing something on sunday, wether it be roadkhockey, basketball or whatever. but then saturday night drinking comes around, and sunday is a write-off.
it's probably easier for guys to stay in and relax on friday night, knowing they have a practice on saturday, and the chance to go out with friends saturday night, with sunday to recover.
most teachers dont work on saturday.
is it sad, or funny, that we have to take drinking into consideration when planning something like this? ah korea, i love and hate you.

[CasperTheFriendlyGhost]

I'm close to 40, but I can block. It might f%$ck me up, but I'll play until it does. Do you really want me?

[Wishmaster]

Dude, what if you blow your knee out? Or somebody breaks your leg, arm. Despite having insurance, you'll have to pay. Those guys in the NFL get played big bucks to play. I'm sure they wouldn't play without making that much. Why would you risk football-related injuries while working an ESL job? Not worth it. What possible benefit would you get out of playing? None of you are going to make the NFL(or even that other UFL league). Not much of a payoff, I think. Play for the love of the game? See how much that pays when you suffer an ACL injury.

[Lionman]

Wishmaster's right. There are many of us who want to play, but don't want to get injured.

Also, many of these leagues have trouble finding linemen because no one wants to spend their weekend blocking for some hot shot running back without getting any of the credit.

As an added risk, knee injuries tend to be common among linemen.

What about flag football? It can be played with few/no linemen and is just as fun, except for the knocking-the-snot-out-of-someone fun of the game.

[warmachinenkorea]

I haven't played since I was a freshman in HS. But I'm big and like hitting people. How often would practice be and how long is the season?