Kim Min-ji (16, Gwangju), Min-sun (13, Gwangju) and Min-min (11, Chipyeong) are sister volleyball players.
Born to a Korean father and a Kazakh mother, the three sisters were born and raised in Gwangju. The eldest sister, Minji, was followed by her younger siblings, Minseon and Min Min, and they quickly became known as the “Volleyball Three”. “When I see each other playing on the court, I wonder if it’s the same person who used to play with me at home,” they giggle when we meet at a park in Gwangju on the 4th.
Min-ji, the eldest, started playing volleyball in 2018 when she was in fifth grade. She was spotted by the volleyball team’s head coach, Chi-Pyeong Cho, who was travelling to neighbouring primary schools in search of good ‘rice cake leaves’. “My dad played social baseball and my mum was a basketball player in school, so I’ve always loved sports, so when I asked him, ‘Can I play volleyball,’ he said, ‘You can do whatever you want,'” says Minji.스포츠토토
“I used to go to the gym with her, and she looked so cool, so I used to try to touch the volleyball. I watched volleyball videos with her and enjoyed it,” she confesses. Her father noticed and asked, “Do you want to play volleyball too?” And so the two daughters began their volleyball careers.
The youngest, Minju, followed her older sisters into the sport. As her older sisters took up the sport, they often stayed at the gym until late in the evening, and Minju spontaneously picked up a volleyball while waiting to go home with her sisters. “I didn’t start playing volleyball because I liked it, but now it’s so much fun,” she smiles.
Having three sisters playing the same sport brings them closer together. They understand each other’s struggles and empathise with each other on the smallest things. “We talk about what we’re good at, but if we see something we’re not good at, we point out why we’re not good at it,” says Minji, the eldest sister. “We talk about what we’re good at, but if we see something we’re not good at, we’ll point out why we’re not good at it,” says Minji, the eldest, “and sometimes we get offended.
Still, the three are each other’s biggest supporters. Minji, the eldest, recently travelled to the National Youth Games to cheer on her younger siblings. “I hate to admit it, but she looked a little bit cooler than she does at home,” she said while watching her brother play in the secondary school division. Minji and Minseon are strikingly similar in their serve-and-attack and receiving stances. “Her behaviour and habits on the court are the same as mine. “Whenever I watch my sister play, I’m like, ‘Oh, why am I there?’ It’s weird,” she laughs.
Unlike many girls their age, the three sisters aren’t big fans of K-pop or idol groups. Instead of looking for funny videos on YouTube, they watch volleyball highlights. Instead of talking about idol group members, they talk about volleyball players. Min-ji cites Kim Yeon-yeon (Hyundai E&C), who plays the same position (libero), as a role model. Min-sun says she wants to be like Kim Hae-ran (Heungkuk Life), who “gets all the balls she thinks she can’t get.” The youngest, Minju, cites “volleyball queen” Kim Yeon-kyung (Heungkuk Life) as a role model because she has a good influence on her teammates.
They are also excited about the launch of the Gwangju-based women’s professional volleyball team Pepper Savings Bank in October 2021. When Heungkuk Life, supported by the youngest Minjoo, came to Gwangju for an away match, the whole family went to the volleyball court together and “intuited” the game, an experience that still remains a pleasant memory. Min-ji also worked as a ball retriever (an assistant who manages the ball during a match) for Pepper Savings Bank.
With the eldest and second living in the volleyball dorms, the three sisters only see each other on weekends. “It’s nice to have a room to myself, but I get bored when my sisters aren’t home,” Minjoo says.
Min-ji is calm, Min-sun is gentle, and Min-do is determined. All three dream of one day being drafted by a professional volleyball V-League team and becoming professional players. Min-ji says she wants to be “a player with no ups and downs,” Min-sun says she wants to be “a player who doesn’t give up easily when things get tough,” and Min-joo says she wants to be “a player who doesn’t let her moods get the best of her.”