Men’s volleyball’s OK Financial Group has named Japanese Massa Ogino (53-photo) as its new head coach.
OK Financial Group officially announced the signing of Ogino on Monday. Specific terms of the contract were not disclosed. Ogino, the third head coach of OK Financial Group since its inception, is the third foreign coach in the men’s V-League after Roberto Santilli (Italy) and Tomi Tilikainen (Finland, Korean Air). This is only the second time a Japanese coach has taken the helm in both the men’s and women’s divisions, with Mamoru Bandaira previously serving as coach and head coach of Heungkuk Life (2010-2011 seasons).
During his playing career, Ogino was a defensive outside hitter for the Suntory Sunbirds of the Nippon League from 1988 to 2010, winning seven league titles. He won the Isai Receiving Award seven times and was named to the Best 6 twice. He represented his country at the 1992 Barcelona and 2008 Beijing Olympics.
After retiring from the game in 2010, he pursued a coaching career with Suntory from 2010-2012 and 2017-2019.
As OK Financial Group prepares for the new season, they have parted ways with Seok Jin-wook and have decided to go with a foreign manager as their next head coach. With a number of foreign coaches of various nationalities on the radar, they narrowed down the list to those with experience in Asian volleyball. The club interviewed the final three candidates, all of whom were either in the Japanese league or out of contract, before finally selecting Ogino.
OK Financial Group said, “As a coach, Mr. Ogino has a wealth of experience in Asian (Japanese) volleyball, as well as South American and European 먹튀검증 volleyball, both directly and indirectly. He also has a strong understanding of Korea’s playing style and performance based on his experience playing for the Japanese national team, which is a rivalry with Korea,” said the group.
Kwon Chul-geun, head of the OK Financial Group Sports Division, said, “We saw him as a leader who could strengthen our weaknesses in fundamentals and defense,” adding, “Ogino has always been interested in Korean volleyball as he is familiar with Korean coaches. He will have no problem adapting.”
“I will do my best to help OK Financial Group win the championship again,” Ogino said through the club, adding, “I will strengthen the defense, which is the pillar of the team, and build a system that utilizes all attack channels.”
Article provided by Kyunghyang Newspaper
