Playing it forward: Promising young ‘Messi’ wants to return kindnesses
At first glance, Seung-min Lee, a quiet and lean 18-year-old college student with a charming boyish smile, could be taken for a young actor. It is only when he’s in uniform and out on a soccer field that he reveals his true self: a powerful and energetic central midfielder who loves the game. This year, Seung-min started a new chapter of his life as he became a freshman of the Physical Education department at Dongkang College, a two-year vocational school, in Gwangju, Jeonnam province, South Korea.
Seung-min first found soccer as a toddler through his father, Hyeon-ho Lee. One of his earliest memories is of playing soccer on weekends and public holidays with his father and his then 3-year-older sister, Ji-seon, at a park near their house in southeast Seoul. If most people remember their first-ever bicycle received as a child, Seung-min remembers the first shining soccer ball his father gave him.
His first formal lessons began at age 8, when he joined an after-school team. Proving that soccer ran in the family (Hyeon-ho had also played when he was in elementary school), the boy became a promising youth player within a couple of years, receiving full scholarships to play throughout middle, and high school.
However, on his third and last year of high school, conflicts with the then-new head coach became a problem. After much deliberation and discussion with his father, Seung-min transferred to a high school close to home which did not have a soccer team.
The conflicts and decision to transfer almost spelled the end of soccer for Seung-min. “After leaving my first high school, I was determined not to play soccer again,” he says. Changing schools cost him a smooth mainstream path to becoming a professional footballer—it forced him to leave his team, and lose his chances to apply for four-year universities with well-known soccer teams.
But Seung-min had a change of heart, went back to playing, and became more mature, positive, and stronger. “When I started again, I realized that without soccer, I did not have any strength to pass the day. Soccer is my life force.”
Seung-min likes to spend his spare time watching television highlights of soccer matches, most of them, the European champion leagues. He enjoys studying the movements and skills of famous professional soccer players, and practicing to see if he can also handle the soccer ball as freely and masterfully.
Some of his coaches and teammates seem to think so, nicknaming Seung-min “Messi” because of his speed, nimble ball-control ability, and quick decision-making. Coincidentally, Seung-min is left-footed and almost the same height (5’ 7”) as Lionel Messi, and he also happens to be an ardent fan of the Argentine superstar.
"I am exhilarated when my team wins, of course,” Seung-min says. “And also when a skill or strategy I had studied actually works." Like most young men of his age, besides the daily training, Seung-min also enjoys playing basketball with dormitory roommates, futsal (an indoor version of football) with his friends in Seoul, going to the movies, listening to music, singing karaoke and, with his teammates, playing FIFA Online 3 at Internet cafes. When in Seoul, he goes to church on Sundays.
Seung-min remains very close to his father. The two talk on the phone often, and exchange text messages. Soccer has played a huge role in their relationship and his father continues to be an inspiration for the teenager. One of the main forces driving Seung-min to succeed is the desire to take care of this man he respects and admires the most in the world. Especially since Hyeon-ho Lee is currently working as a bus driver in Seoul to support Seung-min’s college education, and to pay for his monthly soccer team membership fees.
For Seung-min, becoming a professional soccer player would not only mean having a job he truly loves, and can excel at, but more importantly, one that would allow him to show his gratitude to everyone who helped him, especially his father.
"It is every soccer player’s dream to build their skills and enter the professional teams,” he says. “If I make it to one, I think I’d recollect all the many people who have helped me throughout my youth. I am so grateful to them; I would like to play in order to return their kindness."
