The first start of a professional player and the first start of a leader is Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. From the youngest in the dynasty era, now I stood on the starting line as a coach. Go Joon-yong (34), who took off the uniform he had worn for 12 years and transformed into a coach, said, “I am very motivated.”
Go Joon-yong joined Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in the 1st place in the 2nd round of the 2011-2012 season. He has experienced both winning the regular league and winning the championship match. In his first year as a pro, the team won the combined championship (regular league and championship match), and it was a time when the ‘Samsung Fire Dynasty’ was built by winning the combined championship for two consecutive seasons.
He was a player like Altoran. He didn’t have a big position in the team, but he did the dirty work as a receiving reinforcement or as a substitute. In the 2019-2020 season, when former coach Shin Jin-sik took the helm, he wore his first captain’s armband, and from the 2021-2022 season to last season, he served as captain for two consecutive seasons.
However, the team has advanced to the bottom of the table over the past few years. Starting with the 5th place in the 2019-2020 season, the pride of the famous family was properly damaged by the 7th ~ 6th ~ 7th places. Putting the regrets behind, I want to help the team as a coach. Coach Goh, who finished his professional career with 633 points (48.35% attack success rate) and 44.54% receiving efficiency in 279 matches and 713 sets, took his first step as a coach at the suggestion of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance coach Kim Sang-woo after last season.
On the 27th of last month, he made his first official appearance as ‘Coach Go Joon-yong’ at the youngest Asia Quarter Tryout.
I didn’t accept the coaching job all at once. I was also worried. He had no regrets about his career as a player. Coach Goh said, “After the season, he first made an offer. In fact, he had been thinking that he would like to add just one more year to his playing career. The leader thought after that. Maybe that’s why I was hesitant at first, but I grew up with a grateful heart. I accepted it because I thought there would be no chance if it wasn’t now.”
As a coach, it’s a good start. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance was lucky to get the first overall pick in the Asian Quarter Foreign Player Draft, which was held for the first time in history. Coach Koh said, “As a coach, the first official event was the Asia Quarter, and the start is good. When the bead lottery machine started, I was really nervous. He was desperate, but fortunately,” he laughed. ㅋㅋㅋ벳
Life itself is different. It’s not a pattern for players. Coach Goh said, “When I was a player, I just had to work hard. After becoming a coach, there were many things to do before and after training. It’s not like I’m exercising myself, but I can’t adapt a little in other parts,” he said with a smile, “everything is new. So far, my coaching life has been fun. Not only is it that I can give my opinion to the coach, but it seems even more so because it is a completely different field than when I was a player.”
The first step was taken to ‘recover the famous family’. Coach Koh said, “When my grades weren’t good, I was confused. More so because I was the captain. Before that, I tried to imitate the good points of my older brothers who were captains and do as much as possible for the players, but I think there were times when I couldn’t play as the starting pitcher, so I think it was not enough to give strength to my fellow players. That part is regrettable,” he looked back.