Reporter Ahn Young-joon = With men’s and women’s professional volleyball entering a fierce last-minute ranking competition, the lifting of the indoor mask duty is of interest as another variable that will affect performance.
Since the 30th, the government’s Central Defense Countermeasures Headquarters has lifted the obligation to wear indoor masks in places other than public transportation, medical institutions, and facilities vulnerable to infection. Now, even at the volleyball court, you can take off your mask and enjoy the game.
The match between Woori Card and KB Insurance in the 5th round of the V-League in the 2022-23 season, held on January 31st, was the first professional volleyball match to be held after the obligation to wear a mask was lifted, and a different atmosphere than usual was detected.
Even before the game, many spectators felt awkward taking off their masks. Many of them were wearing masks, so there were many fans who wore them as they were due to inertia.
Hu In-jeong, director of KB Insurance, also smiled shyly, saying, “I want to take it off, but I’m still in the mood to use it all.”
However, as the game progressed and the level of immersion increased, the number of spectators taking off their masks increased to more than half.
Coincidentally, on this day, Woori Card won two sets first, but a full set match unfolded in which KB Insurance caught up with the two sets. By the time the winner was decided in the 5th set, many spectators took off their masks one by one in the heat enough to shake off their awkwardness.
This meant that fans’ cheering could resonate louder without being blocked by the mask. The cheerleader, who had to be cautious before, encouraged more fostering and support in anticipation of the changed quarantine guidelines. Cheerleaders, cheerleaders, and announcers all breathed in with fans without masks.
The gym created a warm atmosphere in ‘No Mask’. As the restrictions were removed, the home crowd sang as a group without masks through ‘Jangchung Karaoke’ or heated up the gym with group slogans. 슬롯사이트
During the break, the ‘Kiss Time’ event was resumed for the first time in three years, and fans without masks danced or had interviews, creating a fun gym atmosphere.
Fans’ participation in cheering went up, and the home team was able to induce more cheering without too many restrictions. It was as if we had gone back to before the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19).
Over the past three years, the influence of the home team from the fans has been greatly limited through the volleyball field with no spectators or limited spectators, or the prohibition of encouraging support.
However, now it is possible to have a one-sided cheering atmosphere with various encouragement and events, so teams with a large number of home spectators or high enthusiasm for cheering will receive relatively more strength.
On the other hand, an official from Woori Card said, “With the removal of the mandatory wearing of masks, it became possible to support fostering, and we were able to draw a greater response by capturing the facial expressions of the crowd on the electronic display board. The audience response to traditionally popular events such as Kiss Time was also hot.” In the future, we will continue to increase events at home games to create the same atmosphere as before Corona 19.”