In tears, 'beauty foreign player' Rebecca Rasem, who left her grandmother's country in 2021, is challenging the V-League again.

The Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) announced on the 29th that the 2025 KOVO foreign player tryout and draft will be held simultaneously for men and women from May 5 to May 10 in Istanbul, Turkey.

This year, a total of 135 male players and 72 female players have applied for the tryouts. Among them, the top 40 male and female players evaluated by the clubs are expected to attend the Istanbul tryout site (39 male players and 37 female players due to cancellations after invitation). Additionally, 3 male and 6 female players who have previously completed the 24-25 V-League season and are challenging again will be included, totaling 42 male players and 43 female players waiting for the clubs' selection.

Among the new faces, there are 206 cm tall outside hitter Sheron Vernon Evans from the Sakai Blazers in Japan's first division, 207 cm tall outside hitter Rafael Araujo who has experience in Brazil and Japan leagues, Bulgaria national team outside hitter Denislav Baldarov, and Cuba national team player Yasir Ramirez, who was selected as the best outside hitter in the Cuba league.

In the women's division, 190 cm tall outside hitter Victoria Demidova from Russia, who played in the German first division last season and won the German Cup, 193 cm tall outside hitter Vanya Savich from Serbia, selected as the best outside hitter in the 2021 Balkan Championship U-19, and Yukna Zadorozhnaya, the outside hitter who was the MVP of the 24-25 Romanian Super Cup, are included.

There are familiar faces as well. In the men's division, Michael Ahie from the Netherlands, who was selected by Woori Card last season but could not complete the season due to injury, along with Luis Elian from Cuba, Yosvany Hernandez from Cuba/Italy, Matej Koc from Slovenia, Lincoln Williams from Australia, Matheus Rodrigues from Brazil, and Thomas Edgar from Australia, who played for two seasons with LIG Insurance (now KB Insurance) since the 2013-2014 season, are knocking on the door of the V-League.

In the women's division, unlike Rebecca Rasem (United States), who wore the IBK Industrial Bank uniform during the 2021-2022 season, Santana from Puerto Rico, Willow Johnson (United States), who played as a substitute foreign player for Heungkuk Life Insurance, and Barbara Zavich from Croatia, are also on the list.

Rasem is a Korean-American foreign player with a Korean grandmother. From the time of her signing, she received great attention from fans due to her connection with Korea and her stunning appearance, and after entering the country, her diligent training attitude and affinity allowed her to quickly blend into the team. With her height of 191 cm, she generated expectations for powerful attacks.

Unfortunately, Rasem failed to fulfill the role of a foreign player, receiving notification of her release from IBK Industrial Bank at the end of November 2021. Although she played 4 more games until the arrival of substitute player Darli Santana, her heart began to stray knowing she would be leaving the team soon; however, she demonstrated the dignity of a professional by giving her all until the last moment. After finishing the final match of the V-League, Rasem wiped her tears and made a promise for the future.

The first-year salary for male foreign players is $400,000, and from the second year onward, it is $550,000. Female foreign players receive $250,000 in the first year and $300,000 from the second year.

Players who played in the V-League during the 2024-2025 season will have priority selection rights from their original clubs, and the respective club must submit the contract signed with the player to the federation by the day before the draft (6 p.m. local time on May 8).

Meanwhile, GS Caltex in the women's division decided to continue the partnership by re-signing Gisele Silva early.

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