National Team right-handed pitcher Ra-kyung Kim is fully committed to reviving women's baseball in Korea.
She founded a team called JDB (Just Do Baseball) and started a fundraising operation through the crowdfunding platform Tumblbug.
The sale of different items, including the Haebee mascot t-shirt, helped JDB raise Korean won 5 million (US$ 4,109). Haebee is a combination of the words Hae (meaning sun in Korean) and Bee.
Despite early success, JDB is not getting many chances to play in Korea. Kim thus decided to move to Japan to play in the industrial leagues.
"I used to think that women's baseball is so unpopular because not many girls were interested in baseball," Kim told the Japan media ."But actually, I don't think that's true. Girls doubt that they can play baseball because of the lack of opportunities and give up because they can't be a professional baseball player."
She added: "There are more than 1,000 female baseball players. That number is almost comparable to that of women's volleyball, the most popular sport these days. There are 49 teams registered nationwide, and about four social league competitions are held in a year."
Kim hopes that her initiative will help women's baseball have a fresh start. "I just hope opportunities will start to open up, to at least create an environment where we can enjoy baseball. It would be great to start with a women's baseball field, to help the girls try the sport without any pressure."
Introduced to baseball by her older brother, in 2015 Kim made her debut for the Korean National Team at age 15, becoming the youngest player to represent the country in women's baseball. She later became the first female to compete in the University League.
Kim helped Korea finish sixth at the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup 2016, earning the win against Pakistan.
She earned two wins for 10th-place Korea at the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup 2018, against the Netherlands in the opening round and Hong Kong in the consolation round.
