The Korea Football Association and Pony Chung Foundation are launching the third phase of their youth soccer scholarship program with significantly expanded support.
The KFA announced on January 3 that the "Pony Chung Foundation-KFA Youth Soccer Scholarship Program," jointly operated since 2015, will be extended for five years from 2025 to 2029.
The program will increase annual recipients from 60 to 100 students, providing 1 billion won ($700,000) in scholarships to 500 students over five years.
The 10th scholarship award ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on January 10 at the Korea Football Park Stadium auditorium. A total of 200 million won will be distributed to 100 male and female middle school players registered with the KFA, with each recipient receiving 2 million won.
Scholarship recipients were selected through recommendations from provincial football associations, the Korea Professional Football League, and the Korea Women's Football Federation, followed by deliberation by a selection committee. The committee, chaired by Kim Ho-gon, chairman of the Football Love Sharing Foundation, comprises external members including KFA coaches, Jung Hyun from the K League, and Han Jae-woong from the Korea Women's Football Federation.
Since its launch in 2015, the program has provided 1.08 billion won to 540 youth players over nine years.
Former scholarship recipients include national team players Yang Hyun-jun (Celtic), Jeong Sang-bin (St. Louis City SC), Hong Yun-sang (Gimcheon Sangmu), Kim Tae-hyun (Kashima Antlers), and Lee Eun-young (Molde FK).