Player Intro
Jung Shin is an associate pastor at a church in Ohio. He grew up surrounded by sports on multiple different levels; until the age of 8, he played soccer in the streets with his friends in South Korea. When his family moved to Suriname, he began to play and compete in several different sports, including volleyball, soccer, basketball, and swim. He played for his school team in table tennis, basketball, volleyball, and soccer, and even earned a swim diploma and was certified to be a lifeguard! Entering college in the United States marked a major transition in his sport life as he began to compete in a new environment.
Jung played basketball at Covenant College in Georgia. While he was used to starting and playing heavy minutes in high school, he was suddenly surrounded by a much more competitive sport culture. He was used to sports being simple and knowing the right move to make next, but now had to learn unfamiliar offensive and defensive systems. Jung shares a story of walking into the first team meeting and seeing the biggest basketball player he had ever seen: a 6'9" tall center who had to duck just to get through the door. He felt undersized and nervous, and frustration crept in as he struggled to find the same success that he enjoyed in Suriname. Jung joined us to talk about his growth through those frustrations and fears.
Gameplan
pD: Tell me about, through your entire experience of sports, what you have learned in that time.
Jung: Sports brings people together. Whether you're playing it or watching it, even traveling in different countries or being in a study program, when people are around sports, it just brings them together. Healthy competition brings people closer, and it teaches us to get along with people.
I just learned that when you're playing organized sports, you have to be selfless. Thinking about: "how can I benefit my teammates, how can I benefit others to succeed, not just 'I want to do well, and I want to play well.'" Even in ping pong, when you're playing singles, you're wanting to have a good game with your opponent; you want to win, but you also want to have a great game. So you're trying to figure out: "how can I play well with my opponent?"
How can I benefit others to succeed?
In all of that, it brings people together, and it's a lot of teamwork, and a lot of trying to be selfless and learning to enjoy it without losing the focus of doing well and winning. But how can I enjoy the whole process of this with whoever I'm playing with?
pD: So even in a singles game, when it's just you and your opponent, the experience is almost as important or more important than just being able to win.
Jung: Right.
pD: So what are some times when you've had to really focus on that selfless attitude or that healthy competition in sports?
Jung: I remember my senior year in high school basketball team, my best friend, Jordan, was the captain of the team. He was 6'4 or so, really talented. We were best friends outside of the team, hung out all the time, but whenever we got on the court, we would clash a lot. He had that Mamba mentality, wanting to win, going 100% at all times. My mentality was always pass first instead of shoot first. I was looking to set people up, and we complemented each other pretty well.
In one game, we were down 25 points against a team we really disliked. We wanted to beat this team, and the game was just going horribly. I remember at one point, we messed up a play, and Jordan was yelling at me, I was yelling at him, and I just literally put the ball down.
The game's going on, I was dribbling up the court, and he and I are having this argument. I remember putting the ball down on the court, and telling him "you pick it up, I'm done" and he was yelling back at me "no, you pick it up." I'm walking towards the bench, and coach is furious, screaming at us. It was embarrassing to the whole team and to the school. I remember from that day on that my attitude and my anger within the game of basketball needed to change.
It was a moment of learning that I can't let this get to me, during a game especially, let alone be yelling at a teammate and giving up halfway through. I just needed to readjust my attitude and mentality when it comes to playing the game.
pD: So instead of this original attitude of anger, what did you replace it with?
Jung: I remember getting into college, during JV or intramural sports, right before we started games, I would open my hands in a posture of receiving and say a short prayer: "Lord I want to glorify you; keep us protected and help us stay focused. I want to just give you all the glory for letting me play, whether we win or lose."
That helped me a lot, starting a game by praying and focusing on that: At the end of the day, this is just a game. As much as we love sports, as much as I want to do well, there's bigger things in life, a bigger picture at hand. I want to use this time to glorify God, because that's what matters the most to me. That became an addition to what I do when I play sports, starting in college.
I want to give God all the glory for letting me play
pD: After changing attitude to focus on what is more important, keeping perspective on healthy competition, how does that carry over to other parts of life?
Jung: Being a dad and husband, working in a church setting and ministry, I'm always working with people and living and sharing life with them. It puts into perspective:
1) enjoying people in general, and
2) how can I help others succeed, whether that is growing spiritually or working on something they've been working on, so thinking about the selfless aspect a bit.
There's still a sin nature in me that wants to control things, but I try to see it through a perspective of "how does God want this person to live their lives, and I live my life, and how do we live together as people, especially as brothers and sisters in Christ?"
Also, playing sports helped me to be more organized. My wife is more laid back and I make the schedule with our family, pay the bills, set up everything for the family. Playing sports helped me to organize and be prepared, which helps me, the family, the church, and the people around me.
pD: You talked about your church life being very important and being very involved. How does faith interact with your experience of sports, and how has sport impacted your faith?
Jung: I go back to the idea of teamwork, and how I've been talking with my church a lot about the church being the body of Christ; not just one part of the body, but the hands, the feet, the legs. All the components come together to work and serve and live together. Playing team sports, thinking back to high school, God laid that foundation on my heart and planted seeds to connect the dots now in ministry and faith.
All the components come together to live together
We have the availability to be around other believers, to grow and pray together, to study the Word together and have access to that... I know that some believers around the world don't have access to that in prison cells, hiding underground; as people that live in America, we have this opportunity and advantage and blessing and privilege to live around other believers, to work as a team, and live as a team.
Even faithwise, it shows how important it is to live together with other believers and share life together with them. If all believers within a church body have that mind [to see others succeed], like when Paul says to "think of others' interests above yours" (Philippians 2:3-4). If we all had that mindset, God would do mighty things through humble believers who want to live that out.
Have that mind to see others succeed
pD: What have been your biggest challenges, either in life or in sports, and how did you overcome them?
Jung: I remember with my club team in high school, the first year I joined the team, Jordan was one of the captains, and I joined the team because of him. I remember the coach had high expectations of me because I did well in the tryouts, but when I got to the game, I froze up. I probably scored 4 points that whole year, maybe playing 5-10 minutes the whole year. We had about 10 games, but when it came to playoff time, I turned my jersey in, because I said: "I need to graduate, I know I'm not going to play as much, so would you give somebody else a chance to play?"
That was a challenging time for me, understanding where my skill level was, and understanding I wasn't going to play as much, because there were so many players better than me. Same in college, I didn't play much, and I knew there were many guys better than me skill-wise and knowing the plays. As a point guard, I don't think I was soaking in all that I could.
Without putting that on anyone else, I came to the reality that I wasn't going to play as much, not going to start the games, but how am I going to enjoy this process and give God praise for letting me play on a team and get to know my teammates and coaches? That was an obstacle for me, coming to realize that I'm not as good as I thought I was, and being able to come to a realization that it's OK. It's not the end of life, and there's more to it, and I need to just enjoy the process and encourage others, to cheer for them and pray for them.
Lastly, my first year of marriage after I graduated, I was waiting on my green card. I could live here in the States, but I couldn't work full-time. So my wife was in college, 19 years old, working full time and going to school as well. I was cleaning, cooking, didn't have much to do. It was a hard year, one of my biggest obstacles, feeling depressed and not having a purpose or reason.
We lived right next to our college campus, 2 minutes walking distance to the gym. So I would be practicing, shooting hoops, lifting a bit, running, I would be in there an hour, two hours every day. Honestly, that time in the gym played a huge role in helping me get through that year. Sports was a big part of that first year in marriage, but just to have that physical exercise would help me feel ten times better coming home. I felt refreshed, and God used that to help me get rejuvenated through exercising that year.
Execution
Jung has recorded a video of some drills he runs on the basketball court to warm up and get his handles ready before a game. Check it out, and like our Facebook page to make sure you see the latest content to build your game and your character.
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