Coach Cha Sanghyun to Continue Leading Women's National Volleyball Team

Reappointed by volleyball association, remains at helm through 2028
AVC Cup victory, Asian Games semifinal finish
Coach Cha: "I will do my best to qualify for the Olympics"

Cha Sang-hyun will continue as head coach of the South Korean women's national volleyball team through 2028.

The Korea Volleyball Association said on October 14, "The Performance Enhancement Committee recently evaluated the current coaching staff, including head coach Cha Sang-hyun and coach Lee Sook-ja, and the board of directors decided on October 13 to reappoint them."

Coach Cha Sang-hyun will lead the women's national volleyball team through 2028. Yonhap News

Coach Cha signed a one-plus-two-year contract with the association in January. His performance was to be reassessed based on the team's results and playing form in international competitions during the 2026 season. He led the team to victory at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup in June and to the quarterfinals of the 2026 Asian Women's Volleyball Championship in August. The team put up a strong fight, including defeating formidable opponents Vietnam, but narrowly missed out on the semifinals after losing to Thailand, the eventual tournament winner, in the quarterfinals.

Coach Cha continued the team's upward momentum at this year's Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. After beating Vietnam in the group stage to advance to the quarterfinals as group winners, the team defeated Kazakhstan to reach the Asian Games semifinals for the first time in eight years. It then lost consecutive matches to host Japan and Thailand and did not make the podium. Although the team failed to win a medal, Coach Cha was credited with significantly improving its cohesion and performance.

South Korea's women's volleyball team has climbed to 28th in the world rankings, up from 40th as recently as May this year. The team also secured a berth in the 2027 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Cup, which offers qualification places for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Coach Cha will lead the team with a focus on the World Cup, which will be held in the United States and Canada from August 20 to September 5, 2027.

"Qualifying for the Olympics will realistically be difficult, but we will do our best," Coach Cha said. "We plan to call up the national team around April next year, after the V-League season ends, and begin preparations for the World Cup in earnest."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.