JUNG YooYeon – KOR (PVAO)

YooYeon, formerly Mal Soon, started her involvement with sitting volleyball at international level in 2004 when she completed the International Referee Course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She credits the support of the World ParaVolley Family for her personal and referee development; particularly President Barry Couzner, Gaby Lotan, Joe Campbell, Denis Le Breuilly, Pierre Farmer, Ebrahim Firouzi and Glynn Archibald.

Events in which she was involved as either an International Referee of Referee Observer include:

2002 – Busan, Korea – Fespic Games
2004 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia – AOCVD Standing Volleyball Championships
2007 – Roermond, The Netherlands – Triple World Championships
2007 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Fespic Games
2007 – Shanghai, China – AOCVD Championships (Women)
2008 – Ismailia, Egypt – Intercontinental Cup
2008 – Beijing, China – Paralympics
2010 – Port Said, Egypt – WOVD World Cup
2010 – Oklahoma, USA – World Championships
2010 – Shanghai, China – Fespic Games
2011 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Standing World Cup
2011 – Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil – Pan American Championships (Women)
2012 – London, England – Paralympics
2013 – Beijing, China – AOCVD Men’s Club Championship – Referee Observer
2014 – Mashhad, Iran – Asian Para Games – Referee Observer
2016 – Anji, China – Intercontinental Cup
2016 – Qingdao, China – WPV Super Six – Referee Observer
2016 – Rio De Janeiro, Brazil – Paralympics
2018 – The Netherlands – World Championships – Referee Observer
2019 – Jakarta, Indonesia – Asian Para Games – Referee Observer
2019 – Bangkok, Thailand – PVAO Zonal Championships – Referee Observer
2019 – Bangkok, China – WPV Level 2 Referee Course Instructor

Previous Award received:

2020 WPV Recognition Award

Official Posts held:

Member of World ParaVolley Referee Commission
Member of KOVAD, Korean Volleyball Federation, Referee Commission
2018 – Jeju, Korea – International Director of Public Relations for World Championships Final Qualifier

In his nomination statement Gaby Lotan, former WPV Referee Commission Chair wrote:

YooYeon acted at the highest level of International Referee for 15 years and always took a leading role in the group of referees – whenever and wherever she was present. Her behaviour was always impeccable – both on and off court.

My first interaction with her was at the Intercontinental Cup in 2008 in Ismailia (EGY) when as Referee Delegate I immediately noticed her outstanding qualities as a referee and as a person. Though she was still a Candidate International Referee, I appointed her as First Referee at the Women Gold Final match and I was very proud to witness her performance and leadership.

After the Courses in Sarajevo in 2017, I had the pleasure to recommend YooYeon to be recognized as an Official World ParaVolley (WOVD at that time) Referee Observer and Referee Instructor. Very fortunately for our federation, Mrs. JUNG acted in these functions for nine years – part of them in parallel with being an active International Referee. Since 2018 she has been a member of the WPV Referee Commission, and her expertise is very much welcomed.

During her long-lasting period of activity with WOVD/WPV, YooYeon has displayed outstanding qualities and full commitment to assisting our organization in all the different fields as International Referee, Referee Observer, Referee Instructor and Organizer and was always present to help everybody. I have no doubt that YooYeon JUNG strongly deserves to be awarded the Distinguished Services Award for her huge contribution to World ParaVolley.