150-strong player pool, basic skills & a desire to promote field hockey: Inside story of S Korea

Only Asian side still in contention in the ongoing FIH World Cup, Shin Seok Kyo & his wards have created quite a buzz
South Korea shocked Argentina on Monday to seal quarterfinal berth | SHAMIM QURESHY
South Korea shocked Argentina on Monday to seal quarterfinal berth | SHAMIM QURESHY

Before the PyeongChang Winter Games in 2018, hockey became a buzzword in the Korean peninsula. More accurately, ice hockey. As hosts, they were guaranteed an automatic slot. To build a competitive team, the authorities naturalised as many as six Canadian players. It didn't have the desired effect as they lost all matches. After Covid hit, the programme further suffered, as the naturalised players went back to North America. There was a loss of public interest as well after it hit a peak after there was a United women's team for the Olympics. Four years later, they failed to qualify for the Beijing Games.  

Less than a year following that debacle, South Korea could again fall in love with hockey. Not ice but field. Before travelling to the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, coach Shin Seok Kyo had expressed his dismay at how ice hockey had gained prominence in South Korea. "... if you search for hockey on YouTube, 'ice hockey' comes up first," he had mentioned in an interview to 'The JoongAng', a Korean daily. "We are the original and we will win."

In Bhubaneswar, they have already shown why they are the 'original'. On Monday night, they produced one of the upsets of the tournament so far to dump out 2016 Olympic winners Argentina in a thrilling shoot-out. They were trailing 3-5 but scored two in the final quarter to take it to overtime. There, they showed some resilience Asian sides have typically lacked in recent times. It is an indication of the upper trajectory they hope to traverse in the coming months and years.

The coach says he's building a team that should come together for the Asian Games later this year. "Out of the players, 14 are playing at the World Cup for the first time," he said after the match on Monday. "We have a young team, focussing on the future. The target is the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Paris Olympics."

While they may not have a strong enough hockey culture when you compare them to some of the traditional strongholds — their talent pool, put together, does not exceed more than 500 — they do have a trophy cabinet that belies the player pool. An Olympic silver in 2000 is the crowning achievement but there's enough Champions Trophy jewellery which will go well with the numerous titles at the Asian level. 

The two main challenges, though, are financial and retaining the player pool at their disposal. "Korea is not interested in hockey," Shin said. "All together, about 500 people play the sport (their opponents on Wednesday, Netherlands, has one of the biggest player pools). It's very difficult to keep the players together." In all, they have approximately 40 hockey teams when you include school, university and club teams. By the time the players successfully go through all those hoops to knock on the doors of the national team, that number (500) stands at roughly 150.

Out of the 150, the best 20 are here. Because some of them are young (seven of the 20 have fewer than 40 caps), he says the levels could fluctuate between one match and the next. "My young boys, I don't know," he said. "Some days, they play well. Some days, not so good. As they play more, they will get more experience."

Because of the challenges of creating, developing and retaining the already small player pool, Shin sticks to imparting the basics of the game. That's what he focussed on before bringing this batch of players to India. "I focus on basic skills. Ball control, open receiving, how to get a kick in attack, how to defend. All the opponents are very good. I was prepared for basic skills."

With those basic skills, Shin and his wards have created quite the stir. Up next is a significant Netherlands-shaped obstacle. Beat them and hockey will re-emerge as the buzzword in Korea in 2023. Just that it will be field this time.

Tuesday's results (all quarterfinals): Australia 4-3 Spain; Belgium 2-0 New Zealand.

Wednesday's matches (all quarterfinals): Germany vs England 4.30 PM, Netherlands vs South Korea (7.00 PM).

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