Seoul City Launches First Pilot Sports Team Linking Public Sports Facilities and Childcare Centers in Local Governments

Pilot Operation of 'Hotdul Hotdul Seoul Early Childhood Sports Team' for Children Aged 3-5 in 7 Districts Starting March

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 14th that it will be the first local government to introduce the ‘Hatdoolhatdool Seoul Early Childhood Sports Team,’ which links sports facilities to ensure that children enrolled in daycare centers participate in regular weekly physical activities, and will begin pilot operation from March.

The ‘Hatdoolhatdool Seoul Early Childhood Sports Team’ is a project in which public or private sports facilities and daycare centers cooperate to support the healthy physical and mental growth of children aged 3 to 5 enrolled in daycare centers by having them regularly participate in physical activities.

Starting with the new school term in March, Seoul City will pilot the program in seven districts: Gwanak-gu, Geumcheon-gu, Dobong-gu, Dongjak-gu, Mapo-gu, Yeongdeungpo-gu, and Eunpyeong-gu. This year’s pilot project will involve 13 public and private sports facilities and 61 daycare centers.

This year, 2,054 children enrolled in daycare centers participating in Seoul City’s ‘Hatdoolhatdool Seoul Early Childhood Sports Team’ will regularly attend classes 1 to 2 times a week in their preferred sports such as futsal, swimming, musical jump rope, basketball, taekwondo, large muscle mat exercises, and inline skating by class. The selected sports prioritize those difficult to conduct indoors at daycare centers, such as swimming and futsal. Sports facilities will hire professional instructors and assistant instructors capable of guiding young children’s physical activities to operate these sports.

Through this year’s pilot operation, Seoul City plans to establish an excellent model linking sports facilities and daycare centers and improve it, aiming to expand the ‘Seoul Early Childhood Sports Team’ to all 25 districts by 2026. The program is expected to grow from 2,054 children in 61 daycare centers this year to about 8,500 children in 250 daycare centers by 2026.

Choi Kyung-joo, Director of the Seoul Tourism and Sports Bureau, said, “The operation of the Hatdoolhatdool Seoul Early Childhood Sports Team project will not only promote balanced physical development and social skills such as cooperation and fair competition among young children but also extend their experience in physical activities into adulthood, laying the foundation for ‘lifelong sports for Seoul citizens.’ Furthermore, we will strive to make Seoul a happy city through sports for all citizens regardless of age.”

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