Seona Kim is captain of the Korea U21 women’s national team. As part of our celebration of International Women’s Day, we spoke to Seona Kim about her motivations and inspirations within the sport and what it means to her to be part of the national team.
For the 21-year-old, it is not so much about role models as it is about her own standards and goals. ’I don’t really have a role model as such,’ she explains, ‘however, I am looking forward to having a good career within sport and I will put a lot of effort into achieving my goal.’
Seona is already making a career for herself within the senior national team. She has 21 senior caps and at the Donghae Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in 2021 she was voted Rising Star of the Tournament.
And while she doesn’t have role models, Seona does acknowledge that a lot of her own motivation comes from a desire to emulate the stars of the game that she watched as a youngster: ’I grew up watching other international hockey players and that gives me a lot of motivation and I learn a lot of things from them.’
Having decided that hockey is her sport of choice, Seona says it is a sport that requires a lot of technical ability as well as adaptability. ’I think hockey is unique which requires a lot of techniques and different performance. So I think it is that uniqueness that helps me to learn new skills.’
Despite her relative youth, Seona is aware of her power to inspire other young girls and women to take up the sport.
‘While we are still not as high profile as some men’s sports teams, we are able to show that our performances are sophisticated and very wonderful.’
Seona Kim will be leading Korea in their bid to win a third Junior World Cup gold medal at Potchefstroom, South Africa 1-12 April.
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