Man-Bok Park was a South Korean volleyball coach whose career became inseparable from the rise of Peru’s women’s national team. Born in 1936, Park played and coached in South Korea before moving to Peru in the 1970s, where he became one of the most influential coaches in the country’s sporting history. His work with Peru developed a team capable of competing with the strongest women’s programs in the world during an era dominated by established powers from Asia, Europe and the Soviet bloc.
Under Park’s leadership, Peru reached the final of the 1982 FIVB Women’s World Championship and won the silver medal, then took bronze at the 1986 World Championship. The defining result came at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, where Peru advanced to the gold-medal match and finished with silver after a five-set final against the Soviet Union. Those results made Park a central figure in the most successful period of Peruvian volleyball. His coaching story also reflects a broader international exchange: a Korean coach built his defining legacy in South America and became a long-term reference point for Peruvian volleyball culture. Park remained closely associated with the sport in Peru for decades and died in Lima in 2019. He was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016 in recognition of his international coaching career.
Coach Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Man-Bok Park |
| Date of Birth | 30 August 1936 |
| Date of Death | 26 September 2019 |
| Born | South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Career Status | Deceased |
| Defining National Team | Peru Women’s National Team |
| Selected Coaching Achievements | Olympic silver (1988); World Championship silver (1982) |
| Hall of Fame | International Volleyball Hall of Fame, Class of 2016 |