Road Corporation Manager Kim Jong-min, who won the women’s volleyball championship match,
“Before this championship match, I eagerly read ‘Be the Last Winner’, a book about the leadership of breasts (who conquered the world) to control my mind. The part that impressed me the most was the part that said, “Prepare and wait.” But I really became the final winner.”
On the 6th, women’s volleyball Korea Expressway Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Dogong) performed a small miracle. In the championship match (3 out of 5 matches) to determine the strongest player in a season, he gave Heungkuk Life Insurance first place in the regular league 1st and 2nd games and decorated all 3rd, 4th and 5th games with reverse wins, winning the so-called ‘reverse sweep’. It became the first team in the V-League to achieve this. The last game 5 recorded a viewership rating of 3.4%, the highest viewership rating ever for a V-League game. On the 12th, we met pottery coach Kim Jong-min (49) at the office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, who said, “I didn’t believe in winning even the moment the championship was confirmed.”
He took off the suit he had worn throughout the season and showed off his wit freely while putting down the burden.
“I believed in the organizational power of coming together”
Even at the start of this 2022-2023 season, Potter was not mentioned as a candidate for the championship. Last season, he finished second in the league that ended early due to Corona, but the weakness was that 5 out of the 6 players were ‘aged’ in their 30s. “There was no interest in us from the beginning this year. So rather prepared more comfortably. I felt that if we stick together and endure, we have nothing to lose. I was told that I would not be able to go to ‘Spring Volleyball’, but I thought differently.”
Director Kim, who has been leading pottery for 8 years since March 2016, believed in ‘organizational power’. From the moment he took the baton, the main pottery member has remained almost the same. It is not an exaggeration to say that he and his players have grown together, having been a player, coach, and manager in men’s volleyball, and then took his first steps in the women’s volleyball world as a potter’s coach. You can tell how each other feels just by looking at the way they sit.
This organizational power resulted in the first combined victory after the foundation in the 2017-2018 season, but suffered twists and turns, such as falling to 6th place in the 2019-2020 season. Familiarity can sometimes lead to indolence. Still, coach Kim looked back on the trust and system accumulated over the past 8 years that were demonstrated this year.
“A team with good organization wins against any team, and a team without organization loses against any team. Organizing power is ‘harmony’. To achieve that harmony, you need trust, and to build trust, you need to approach each other first. Organizational ability is not visible, but felt naturally.”
“I want to become a life senior before being a director”
To this end, director Kim does not just talk, but acts. I also make plans to eat with the players first. Although he is 190 cm tall, he knows how to enjoy pasta in cute restaurants. In the off-season, he went camping together to Pohang, near Gimcheon, his hometown.
“Before the director, I want to be a life senior who can approach me comfortably and ask anything. The guy next door wants to ask a question. Oh, would the uncle be rather uncomfortable? (Laughs)”
Sometimes it stimulates Ogi. “During the game, they say, ‘You guys can’t do it to them anyway, so just work hard’. In addition to compliments such as ‘You’re doing well’ and ‘It’s okay’ every day, I needed words like these. This time, he said, ‘It’s not a waste to come this far.’ Of course, I was very close to the players, so I was sure they wouldn’t take it as a wound.”
Because I believe in the players,스포츠토토 there are many times when the meeting before the game is held among the players, excluding myself and the coaching staff. The players debate each other and come up with a solution on their own. “The manager and coaching staff bring color to the team. It is ultimately up to the players to realize that color on the court. They communicate with each other and trust the solution they found.”
Like the title of the book, director Kim and potter became the final winners while writing the first history. “The manager’s stake in winning the team can be 0% or 100%,” he said. I don’t think my role was that big during the championship game. Thanks to the players who didn’t give up until the end. I’m not a ‘master’ yet. It just helps the players to perform at their best in the given conditions. If you prepare and wait without regrets, I think a miracle will happen. It’s also my volleyball philosophy.” It’s not just volleyball.