Can Hyundai Coach Save Sean Rooney?

Can Kim Ho-chul, coach of Hyundai Capital Skywalkers, successfully carry out his project of “saving private Rooney?”

Sean Rooney (25), playing with the Skywalkers, was indisputably the best foreign player last season. Being as tall as 206cm, he has a handsome look as well as outstanding performance. Thanks to Rooney, the Skywalkers were able to deter the Samsung Insurance Blue Fangs from having their 10th win in a row, and win the season’s championship last year. Rooney was chosen as the MVP for both the regular season and the final championship series.

In this season, however, his name is no longer adorned with the word ‘best.’ Sometimes, it is even disgracefully classified to the category of ‘second-class foreign players.’

Kim Ho-chul: “Recovering stamina is prior to technical concerns.”-

Actually, his record this season is the worst compared to other foreign players in other teams. As of January 11, Rooney has 125 points, which means that he lags not only behind the “Brazilian duo,” Leandro Da Silva (Samsung Insurance, 193 points) and Bobby (Korean Air, registered name, 148 points), but also behind Frederic Winters (133 points) from Canada. While Rooney has been suffering from a slump, the Skywalkers have lost three times: twice against Samsung Insurance and once against Korean Air.

Ahn Nam-su, head of Skywalkers’ executive office, said, “Rooney takes some time to get on track since he works as a beach volleyball player in the off-season here. Before the second round last year, he was dismissed by critics who claimed that he lacked the minimal requirements to perform as a volleyball player.”

But the coach Kim Ho-chul thinks differently. After finishing the match against Korea Electronic Power Corporation (KEPCO), Kim commented, “Even taking into consideration the fact that he has been playing on the beach, I think there are some signs of conceit. Physically, he is not in shape at all.”

Pondering on this problem deeply, Kim decided to trade off the team’s record in the early stage of the league for the recovery of Rooney’s basic stamina.

“We won’t cling on winning every single game for a while. Although we don’t make players lift weights during the season, recovering (his) stamina is a top priority. It could be a little late, but I will focus on building him up and aim at the third or fourth round.”

An exclusive coach from Italy summoned-

Accordingly, the team will summon their Italian trainer Andrea Dotto, who specializes in physical stamina care, as early as the 27th. Usually, Dotto comes to Korea in April and coaches the players as they work on their basic stamina, endurance and speed and leaves just ahead of the next season. However, he is coming three months earlier this year, as many of the Skywalkers, including Rooney, are running out of vigour. Rooney is scheduled to take exclusive lessons.

Shin Jin-sik, playing with Samsung Insurance, said, “Although Rooney could be weaker than Leandro in terms of power, he has better techniques. But if it is not backed up by stamina, he can’t show them off.”

Coach Kim said, “In the big games such as the playoffs, Rooney has to lead the team. We might suffer some losses for the time being, but I decided to take a long-term view.”

uni@donga.com