Reporter Kim Tae-woo: The feast of Kia, which achieved the best result by winning the KBO League in 2024, didn't last long as expected. Players and the club deserve to feel a little bit better after winning the combined championship in seven years, but they came back with a calm look even a few days later. The coaching staff has been hurriedly reorganized, and the closing camp is foreshadowing a training camp. There is no negligence or complacency, and the situation is being filled with tension again.먹튀검증

KIA, which beat Samsung on October 28 to win the Korean Series and the combined championship, is aiming for next year with a non-stop move. On October 31, when the champagne taste of winning the Korean Series could still remain, promising pitchers Kim Min-jae and Jang Jae-hyuk will be dispatched to Canberra Cavaliers in the Australian professional league. KIA, which sent a total of five players, including Kwak Do-gyu and Kim Ki-hoon, to the Australian league in October last year to promote the growth of its players, knocked on Australia's door again this year.

On Nov. 3, there were some changes in the coaching staff. The team reorganized the list of its first-team coaching staff by recruiting coach Kim Joo-chan and Kim Min-woo. Kim Joo-chan was appointed as a bench coach to assist coach Lee Bum-ho, and Kim Min-woo as a first-team defense coach. Ahead of the upcoming season, Kim renewed his three-year contract worth 2.6 billion won (500 million won in down payment, 500 million won in annual salary, and 600 million won in optional) with Lee Bum-ho, who created the valuable title of "unified championship" by taking the helm of the team.

On Nov. 4, the team members left for Okinawa. The main players of the first team will stay in Korea through both rest and training to end the year, but the team has set up the list of players who need more training. KIA will begin its final training session from Nov. 4 to Feb. 28 at Kin Stadium in Okinawa. The final training session will involve 31 players including seven rookie players in 2025, who will undergo physical and technical training.

On the contrary, pitchers Kim Dae-yu and Lee Joon-young, and fielders Choi Hyung-woo and Kim Sun-bin, Seo Geon-chang, Lee Chang-jin, Park Chan-ho and Lee Woo-sung, will go on a recovery training trip to Kagoshima, Japan on Saturday and will stay until Sunday. Although they won the title, their teams are continuously running without complacency. They are busily moving as if they were eliminated from the postseason.

Although Lee won the title this year, there is a widespread sense in the club that they should not be satisfied here in order to lay the foundation for a long run for a long time. Lee Bum-ho even expressed his intention to increase the intensity of training in the defense camp at the end of this season regardless of the results of this season. In fact, there is no guarantee that what went well this year will go well next year, and it is also true that the main players are not young. He means that only when the team complements its current performance and fills the back of its players, it can become a real powerhouse that produces sustainable results.

One can also feel the Kia's commitment by looking at the list of players in the closing camp. The Okinawa closing camp has 13 pitchers, three catchers, nine infielders and six outfielders. As many as 31 players are in the closing camp. As the team has to lead the team in large numbers, its coaching staff and support staff have naturally increased. The number of players in the camp has increased more than expected. "The announcement of the team's roster has been delayed due to this," a club official said. It is sufficient to feel that Kia has come back to a sobering reality after recovering from its victory in the Korean Series. The team's full support will also be felt.

As the camp costs more than other teams, the team is also agonizing over how to efficiently and produce good results at the site. According to Kia's training schedule on the first day (May 5), it is extremely tight. In the case of pitchers, they undergo conditioning and throwing programs from the morning, and take individual assignments to supplement their training schedule. There is not much time to rest, as the treatment schedule continues until the evening. Fielders, who have more tight training schedules than regular pitchers, will have dinner time starting from morning weight training to defensive, batting, and extra training. Just like last year, night training is also scheduled after dinner.

Kia Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho said, "After winning the championship, I couldn't go overseas because I was busy. However, I will proceed with the schedule as soon as possible and come to Okinawa to watch the players. KIA's strong performance in 2025 started in advance in Okinawa. Just as promising players and players in the 1.5th tier performed well this year, attention is focusing on whether the team will be able to continue this steady trend next year.