Men’s volleyball national player Kim Min-
jae Joined Korean Air as a high school graduate rookie
‘Taegeuk Mark’ after 5 years of volleyball start
July AVC Challenger Competition Main competition “I want to win it by practicing hard” It reminds me of Kim Min-jae (27, Naples), the nucleus of the Korean War. However, there is Kim Min-jae (20) in men’s volleyball. He started playing volleyball late when he was a freshman at Inhasa University High School and is a middle blocker with all-time talent, enough to wear the Taegeuk mark in 5 years. He met him in Manama, Bahrain, where the 2023 Asian Men’s Volleyball Club Championship is being held.
◆Going straight to the pros, a move from God
Min-jae Kim’s volleyball start was exceptionally late. He has good physical condition and has been scouted in various sports since he was in elementary school, but he revealed the reason, “My mother was absolutely against sports.” However, he said, “I was playing volleyball at a sports club when I was in my third year of middle school, and at that time I was already 188 cm tall. Inha Sadaebu High School, which was in a situation where there were too many players and couldn’t even participate in the competition, was looking for a middle school student who could play volleyball, and I was selected there. My mother also thought about my academic performance, and at that time she didn’t object,” he said with a laugh.
Kim Min-jae, who had many talents, increased his skills explosively. However, because Inhasa University High School had such a thin player base, it was difficult to enter a prestigious volleyball university because there was no record of winning in a national competition. In the 2021-2022 rookie draft, where he participated at the recommendation of professional teams who had their eyes on him, Min-jae Kim was selected by Korean Air in the 2nd round, 1st place overall, and 8th overall. Kim Min-jae said, “There was a lot of advice from people around me to go to college because my speaking skills were short. Still, if he wasn’t going to go to a prestigious university, he was greedy, saying, “Let’s go straight to the pros.”
This was a godsend. With the systematic management and training of a professional, Kim Min-jae’s skills have improved. In the 2022-2023 season, his second year, he was the main player, ranking 3rd in fast attacks (63.67%) and 7th in blocking (0.521 per set), quickly growing into a top middle blocker.
◆“I want to win the national team”
Now, Kim Min-jae enters the Jincheon National Training Center and joins the national team. The national team will compete in the 2023 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Challenger Tournament to be held in Taiwan in July. Shin Young-seok (37, KEPCO) and Choi Min-ho (35, Hyundai Capital), who were established middle blockers, were missing from the national team this time. Instead, Kim Min-jae, Kim Gyu-min (33, Korean Air), Kim Jun-woo (23, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance), Park Jun-hyeok (26, Woori Card), and Lee Sang-hyun (24, Woori Card) were selected.스포츠토토
Kim Gyu-min is expected to occupy one spot as the national team’s middle blocker, and Kim Min-jae and others will compete for the other spot. Kim Min-jae said, “When I go to Jincheon, I want to practice until I die so that I can become the starting pitcher. Because that’s how you get recognized. I am excited at the thought of joining the national team.”
At the end of the interview, he brought up the story of having the same name as Kim Min-jae of soccer. Kim Min-jae said, “I thought, ‘Does Kim Min-jae know that there is a volleyball player Kim Min-jae?