“Younger Players Around Me Lacked Effort”

“I wanted to play another year because my condition was fine and fans wanted me back as well, but Coach Shin Chi-yong, along with other team advisors, held me back. At first I was a bit hurt, but looking back, I think it turned out for the best.”

Although these were the words that Shin Jin-sik used at a coffee shop in Yongin, Gyeonggi, it felt like he had not yet completely accepted the fact that he had left the court. He seemed sorry to have to leave. There is practically no part of his body that is intact, having sprained his ankle and knee about 50 times and received surgeries on his shoulder and wrist, but he was full of confidence that he can still compete against younger players and win.

“It’s not that I played well, but rather that the younger players did not make an effort to surpass me. That’s why I played for such a long time. They say that a shift in generations came late on our team….but don’t younger players have to play well enough to push us out in order for a shift in generations to happen?” He said that the younger members on the team needed to work with a more determined and aggressive mindset. “When one becomes a pro, there’s a tendency to think of only money and oneself. But if the team results aren’t good, it’s no use. You have to play for the team.”

Five years ago, Shin Jin-sik was told by Coach Shin Chi-yong that, “If you become a coach, you’d be good.” His high-school teacher, Kim Eun-cheol, Iksan Namsung High School’s coach, said the same. Coach Shin said, “(Shin) Jin-sik has a firm foundation so he will be a good model for younger players. He is also very competitive. If he can break away from the self-centered mindset that star players easily get caught up in, and receive proper education for coaching, he will be an excellent coach.”

The thought that Shin Jin-sik is also keeping close to heart is becoming a ‘coach that sees the game on the same level as his players.’ He knows well that the main reason star players are unable to become great coaches is because they coach from their own standards. “Honestly, it’s difficult to lower my level of seeing things. But it has to be done in order to become a great coach,” said Shin with a laugh.

Next year, Shin will head to the United States, the home of sports science. In order to go beyond Korea and become a world-class coach, English is a must. That is why he chose the U.S. and not Brazil or Japan. “Trying to study after not studying a long time has me itching all over. Now I realize that training is far easier. But I will do it. It would be a shame to have to remain just a star player. I want to become a star coach as well.”

Shin Jin-sik, who has left the courts that he had been attached to for 24 years, is spending time with his two sons Hyeon-soo (11) and Hyeon-bin (2), while preparing for a second career as a coach. Hopefully he will return as Korea’s “Hiddink of the court.”

yjongk@donga.com