Hee-Sun Kim Rises as Captain of USTA Missouri Teams

During a family gathering in Springfield about a decade ago, Hee-Sun Kim and her husband decided to put together a fun Olympic-style contest. The couples in attendance — who came from as far as Seattle — teamed up to take on their relatives in such athletic activities as basketball, running, tennis and whatever else came to mind.

“The Moon Olympics” as they were dubbed (Kim’s husband’s last name is Moon) featured fierce competition and a point system to determine the winning tandem. Kim — who played volleyball, basketball and softball growing up but not tennis — was target practice on the court for her perhaps overzealous brother-in-law.

“We lost poorly in tennis because my brother-in-law was very competitive, and he hit all the balls at me,” Kim said. “I decided, ‘I’m going to learn how to play tennis.’ That’s how I started.”

But why begin a sport after being decimated on the scoreboard and physically pelted by tennis balls sent across the net from your sibling rival? For a simple reason, Kim said:

“I can’t lose like this.”

Thus began a tennis journey 10 years in the making. Kim embarked on her quest for improvement by attending learn-to-play sessions on Sundays. Other players there talked and decided to join the USTA. Kim followed suit.

Fast-forward a decade, and Kim is now captaining four teams. About one month ago, a team Kim strategically assembled captured a World TeamTennis (WTT) tournament championship at Springfield’s Cooper Complex to earn a National Qualifier slot.

From humble and perhaps humiliating beginnings to building and leading a squad to a National Qualifier. Take that, brother-in-law.

A bit ironically, Kim recruited another family member — albeit a much tamer nephew in this instance — to hop onto her WTT team. A great athlete and basketball player but not much of a tennis competitor, Kim’s nephew wanted some exercise and agreed to join forces with his aunt.

The two, who live down the street from each other, now play together two to three times a week. They’ll have another opportunity to compete together when their World TeamTennis squad tests their mettle at the National Qualifier in St. Louis July 29 through August 1.

Keeping it in the family, Kim credited her husband for being an instrumental component of her tennis participation even though he doesn’t play the sport himself.

“I’d say, ‘There’s another team opportunity.’ He says, ‘You can, so you should.’ That was his answer,” Kim said. “I said, ‘So you don’t mind?’ He says, ‘No. If you like doing it, do it.’ He’s definitely given me that support to say you’re physically able to do it, so do it. And why not?”

Kim captains an 8.0 team as well as a pair of 7.0 squads in addition to her WTT team. She’s added to the mix a tri-level team for a September 18 all-day tournament at the Cooper Complex.

Kim encouraged other players to register for the tri-level tourney, and USTA Missouri adult league coordinator Leslie Echols said Kim has been crucial in inviting folks to help get new local leagues off the ground. Echols also plays on Kim’s WTT team. Kim said she never really desired to be a captain, but that’s changed recently.

“It’s fun putting people who just started with people who have played for a while, because each person’s ability is so different on each level,” Kim said. “If you take advantage of the special ability of each level player and put it together — I call it 1 + 1 = 3. It comes out nice.”

Kim has been employed as a family practice physician at Mercy Hospital in Springfield for the past 23 years. She said she’s been especially thankful to have tennis as an escape amidst the intense working environment of the Covid-19 pandemic..

“When Leslie Echols opens it up, I say I’ll do that one. She’s like, ‘Are you sure?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m sure,’” Kim said. “It’s a good stress reliever right now with seeing Covid patients. When you’re done with the office, you just need to put your mind somewhere else. Tennis has definitely given me that opportunity during this time.”

Kim said post-quarantine, she began partaking in weekly tennis meetups facilitated by the Southwest Missouri Tennis Network Echols helps run, in addition to women’s doubles in USTA Missouri leagues. She soon added mixed doubles to her plate once those USTA Missouri leagues got rolling.

“With Covid, let’s play some more tennis. People are interested in playing tennis right now,” Kim said. “Travel is down. Other opportunities are down. It’s heightened the awareness of tennis and time availability has opened for people. There are a lot of factors that worked perfectly to make the USTA leagues happen this summer.”