Shooting star Shin proud of Olympic heritage

NEWCASTLE (Paul Nilsen's Women's Basketball Worldwide) - South Korean prospect Jae Shin has some seriously big shoes to fill. After all, her mother, Hwa Soon Kim, is an Olympic basketball silver medalist who according to her daughter can still torch anyone with her shooting skills – two decades after retiring. 
 
As if that wasn’t a big enough challenge, Shin is also out to accomplish her wider mission of trying to become a big success not only for herself and her family, but so that she can also inspire more young Korean women to pick up a basketball and take up the sport.
 
Shin recently joined the University of Louisiana at Monroe and if she completes the programme, she will become the first Korean women’s basketball player to graduate from a Division 1 school.
 
The opportunity to make history isn’t lost on the player and already her story is beginning to permeate back home in Korea and within the large Korean communities established in the States.

“Yes this would mean a lot to me because playing in the NCAA1 was what I always looked forward to ever since I moved to the United States” said Shin.
 
“I hope more people, especially Korean girls will realise that they can do it as well.

”Although NCAA women’s basketball is not well known in Korea just yet, I would definitely say more people are aware of me playing in the USA now.

”I have played so many different teams in the USA through high school and various AAU teams but I have not seen many Korean girls playing basketball which has disappointed me.
 
“I think this is because Koreans (or Asian people in general) tend to focus a lot more on education rather than sports because they feel that they can be successful in that area as opposed to sport.
 
She went on: “Hopefully by watching me, more and more Koreans will realise that they can be successful in playing sports as much as they can in education. Also, by playing sports, it doesn’t mean it’s going to take their chance away from being successful academically.”

If she does make it at the college level then a full time career could beckon and according to Shin, her first port of call will be heading back home to play professionally and represent her country just like her mother.
 
“Yes, my dream is to go back to Korea after I graduate and play in the WKBL because when I was young, following my mom around to professional games, I grew up watching WKBL and I always wanted to play in that league when I grew up," she recalled.
 
“But if I get a chance, I would also love to play overseas because that will really give me a lot of different kind of experiences.

“My final goal is to play on the South Korean national team. Not only because it would be an honour to do that but I’ve always wanted to be like my mom and follow her in her footsteps.
 
“I might not be as successful as she was but I definitely want to give it a shot and see how far I can get.”
 
It’s clear Shin is a fiercely proud daughter who is thrilled for her mum and the accomplishments she attained in the game. Having stepped out in Los Angeles at the 1984 Olympic Games, her mother not only claimed silver but also top scored for her country and made the All-Tournament Team too.

”I have watched little clips of my mom playing,” smiled the guard.
 
“She did tell me a lot about 1984 but also big events in Korea such as The Night of The Olympic Medalist and all the old articles of my mom showed me all about the LA Olympics.”

With basketball not as prevalent in schools in Korea as in some other countries, the experience of having such an esteemed professional player in the family was a huge bonus for Shin in her early days.

”In Korea, there was only a few schools with basketball teams. I had to transfer to Sun-Il Elementary school in order to play basketball. All I remember from playing in Korea is that our practices were long and intense," she explained.
 
“We practiced every day and even on weekends. It was two to three hours in the morning and about four hours in the afternoon!”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Shin has excellent shooting ability with her mother having played a huge part in developing her talent.

”I learned to shoot from my mom and I think that's why I can shoot so well. She rebounded for me and practiced with me all the time to help me out!”

But of course, the big question everybody needs answered simply has to be asked - just who would win in a mother versus daughter shootout?

”It depends on how my mom is feeling that day” laughed the teenager before going on "even though it has been over 20 years since she stopped playing, she can still shoot the lights out!”

Paul Nilsen

FIBA