Director Kim Hyun-min, who leads the Laos national baseball team, is a veteran leader who has been an amateur leader for 17 years at military commercial high schools and Jinyeong high schools after playing professionally at Ssangbangwool, Lotte, and LG.
Manager Kim Hyun-min has a philosophy that he has had while living as a professional baseball player and an elite baseball leader. He said, “I want to tell you about the big forest called life before I tell you about the tree of baseball skills.”
Once, coach Seong-jun, who played for Samsung, called me and told me a lot about manager Kim Hyun-min. “Coach Kim was a sincere player and leader, quiet to the point of reticence and silent, but once he entered the ground, he had a personality that suddenly changed like a scary lion,” he praised.
Laos players are having a camp in Korea. Once coach Kim Hyun-min, who is quiet and silent, goes into training and only starts the game, he chases the players on the ground, teaches them, and shouts. When the day’s work is over, he always chokes to the point where his voice doesn’t come out.
In Laos, young players do not play many games and only practice on their own. There are not many opportunities to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the players. Through this camp, we continue to figure out what Laos players are lacking and what they need to improve.
They play 7 games for 10 days and 9 nights, and in the morning, they thoroughly analyze and train their immature points and areas to be supplemented the previous day at the Songdo LNG Sports Town baseball field. If I was a professional elite player, I would practice batting in the morning and prepare for the game in the afternoon, but I focus on practicing defense without batting practice.
Because coach Kim Hyun-min knows that batting is harder than any other part and doesn’t get better in a short time, so he focuses on defense and running base practice and teaches the players.
He knows what is needed and what kind of training he needs to give, and he is leading the players. Coach Kim’s efficient operation and the way he takes notes and guides the young players separately is so cool and nice.
If a player does not understand well and makes a mistake during defensive practice, coach Kim guides them in Korean and Laos, and Mong-ri, the first baseman, immediately translates accurately into Laos for the fielders. Fortunately, there are a few Laos players who speak Korean well, so there is no inconvenience in communication between coach Kim and his players.
Manager Kim Hyun-min’s strengths are his gentle personality and his passion for baseball. Besides, even a baseball player admires how well he hits fungo. The outcome is determined by how well his coach uses his players. For example, Joe, the main pillar of the team, is good at catcher, but if he finds it difficult to pitch and falls into trouble, he is immediately promoted to pitcher and his usefulness is reviewed. “Director Kim is thorough in his self-restraint, always listening and showing an accepting attitude. It is not authoritative,” said Jane Innae, CEO of Laos.
I can see Laos players growing rapidly while playing against players who are much better than the Laos national team. In the game against Yulgok High School, pitcher He, the ace of the Laos national team, was able to receive a 30-minute one-point lesson from pitching coach Iseul Kim, thanks to coach Moon Yong-soo’s consideration. Although it was a short time, it would have been a great help and experience for the pitcher.
Watching coach Kim Hyun-min,스포츠토토 who has a taciturn personality, personally go to Yulgok High School coach Moon Yong-soo and ask for a favor, I saw once again how great his passion for baseball is. He wants Laos baseball players to know the fun of baseball in the future and to know the importance of basic skills even if Laos baseball players experience failure through this mini-camp in Korea.
In particular, the part that director Kim Hyun-min considers most urgent and important to them is ‘throwing well and receiving well’. And furthermore, he strongly emphasizes to the players that he hopes that baseball will grow into a well-organized one team with teamwork rather than being made by a few players with good skills.