By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Cho Sung-jun, head coach of South Korea's men's hockey team, craved an Olympic medal, regardless of color, thinking it could ignite public interest in a game that is not too popular here.
However, his squad failed to make it to the quarterfinals, losing 2-1 against Spain Tuesday. The 48-year-old former hockey player has suffered from nightmares vividly after several avoidable mistakes his team made during the match.
The shattered dream, at least for now, is frustrating for Cho as he is well aware of the fact that failure to grab a medal will leave Korean hockey players abandoned at least until the next Olympic Games.
Prior to the crucial march, Cho and his squad vowed to put all of their energy toward making the ``best moment of their life'' by defeating their foe in the final preliminary match.
``If the national team had won a medal, we could have expected the establishment of new hockey teams at universities or support from private companies. We could also expect the establishment of a hockey-only stadium. But all of these are gone now,'' Cho said with a sigh.
Working at a high school as a physical educator, he said, ``I have a relatively stable job in Korea, while the players, who mostly belonging to city governments, must renew their contract every year. Securing medals could have given them a chance to secure better contract terms and pension payments.''
Seeing the players' drooping shoulders after the loss was the worst moment in his life, he said.
There are only eight hockey teams, roughly 150 players, across the country.
``It's very difficult to select even 18 players trained enough to form a national team,'' he said. Overly stressed out, he suffered a stroke in October. Luckily, he recovered weeks later, after which he had to cut back on alcohol, something he had loved.
``Hockey players and trainers overseas are well paid and enjoy high popularity, while those in Korea receive incomparably low incomes and are out of public attention except for the duration of the Olympic games,'' Cho said.
He stressed building sufficient infrastructure in which people can watch and enjoy hockey, as the sole solution to sharpening international competitiveness.