LG Group has launched new development programs for future national team athletes in skeleton and ice hockey, expanding its support for less popular winter sports.
LG officially unveiled "LG Future Slide" for skeleton and "LG Hockey Dreams" for ice hockey on Thursday.
The skeleton national team has continued to struggle with a shortage of athletes even after winning a gold medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. LG and the Korea Bobsled & Skeleton Federation plan to use LG Future Slide to focus on identifying new talent.
LG Future Slide consists of a draft combine, skeleton training clinics and a start competition. The draft combine tours middle schools, high schools and universities to identify prospective athletes with high potential. LG will then link the training clinics and start competition to help promising athletes gain real competitive experience and grow into national team contenders.
LG is also running LG Hockey Dreams in partnership with the Korea Ice Hockey Association to help promising players improve their skills and break into the international stage.
LG Hockey Dreams operates through a goalie camp, a scholarship for prospects seeking to enter overseas leagues, and a tryout camp to select national team athletes for the 2028 Dolomiti Valtellina Winter Youth Olympic Games in Italy.
The goalie camp develops goalkeepers — the last line of defense and a cornerstone of any team. From Monday through Thursday, LG invited coaches with experience in overseas leagues including the National Hockey League to give special training sessions to elite middle-school-level goalie players in South Korea.
LG has also extended its national team sponsorship contracts for both sports through 2030. The company has served as the main sponsor of the skeleton national team since 2015, a relationship spanning 12 years. As a result, the number of registered athletes has more than doubled compared with 2014, and the team has won more than 130 medals at major international competitions including the Olympics and World Championships.
For ice hockey, LG began sponsoring the women's national team in 2016 and now supports the men's, women's and youth national teams. At the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games, the women's team won a silver medal — the first in the program's history.
"We are honored to nurture promising athletes in skeleton and ice hockey and contribute to the growth and spread of these sports," an LG official said. "We will consistently continue our support to expand the base of these sports."
joze@heraldcorp.com
