Roy Chung was born in South Korea and started playing hockey there at 10 years old. At 13 years old, his family moved to California. Despite hockey not being the most popular sport in either place, Chung now finds himself here in Watertown, South Dakota.
Throughout his hockey career, Chung has always been a defenseman. He played one season as a forward, but returned quickly to his spot on the blue line. He prides himself on his offensive and defensive style, sporting a 19-point season last year. “Offensively, I make good plays on the blueline, and I make a lot of good passes, so I have a lot of assists. Then defensively, I’m in a good spot. I’m not the most physical guy, but I try to have a good stick on it, then make smart plays,”.
Earlier this year, Chung had the honor of joining Team South Korea in the IIHF World Championship. On the experience, Chung said, “It was an honor to represent my country, a lot of guys were older, but I got to learn a lot and it was a cool experience,”. In terms of takeaways from the experience, Chung said, “A lot of the guys are big and strong, stronger than me. I had to move a lot and I learned a lot from the experience of my teammates,”. He called the experience overall a dream since he started playing hockey.
This will be Chung’s fourth season in the NAHL, giving him lots of lessons in that time. Chung said, “There are so many players in the NAHL. I learned that you have to work really hard every day to be a good player here. And I’ve been getting better every year. I’m excited for this season again.”
As a new member of the Shamrocks, there were two things Chung wanted fans to know about him: “I’m an offensive defenseman, so I want the fans to know that, and off the ice, I’m a chill guy,”.
Thank you so much to Roy for sitting down with me!
By Lily Schutzenhofer
Photo by Sarah Cooper