GRAYSLAKE – If you would have asked Tom Kim four years ago whether he would be an athletic director in his future, he probably would have answered no. But now Kim has stepped into the role of athletic director for Grayslake Central.
Kim comes to Grayslake Central after being the head varsity football coach and assistant athletic director at Elgin. And Kim is loving every minute of it.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “It’s been exciting.”
Part of the reason Kim, 30, wasn’t thinking about becoming an athletic director is because of how much he loves coaching and teaching.
“When I first started, I was really more intrigued with just the teaching and coaching aspect,” Kim said. “I had never envisioned going down this route maybe until ... three years ago when I first really kind of started thinking about things like this. And then within the last year or two is when I really kind of put myself out there for interviews and made an effort to see what was out there.”
When Kim made the decision to pursue a career as an athletic director, there were many things about Grayslake Central that stood out for him.
“From everyone I’ve spoken to, Grayslake’s the type of community that you would want to raise a family in,” Kim said, “and that’s something that really attracted me to this position.”
Kim also was impressed that the Grayslake community already rallies around and supports its athletic programs. And Kim said he is looking forward to building onto that.
Kim’s career as coach, assistant athletic director and now athletic director come from his history as an athlete at Niles North, where he played football.
“I’ve always had good coaches around me and great administrators, I think, around my coaches and myself and my programs that I was always a part of,” Kim said. “So, it’s really neat to be able to do this and to try and do the same thing.”
Even though Kim is excited for the school year ahead of him, he admits that not coaching football might be tough.
“I think I’ll always miss coaching,” Kim said. “I’ll always miss teaching in the classroom; but that’s what I always wanted. I didn’t want to leave that side of my profession burnt out. I wanted to miss it when I left it. That’s going to propel me to work hard here in this role.”
The upcoming year should keep him busy so that he doesn’t have to think about coaching too much. Kim already has met with all the head coaches and some assistant coaches to get their perspective on their programs.
“We’ve been able to just discuss their programs [and] the visions they have for their programs and share each other’s goals and objectives as an athletic department, which, I think, is really important,” Kim said.
Kim said he also plans to meet with the rest of the assistants once the school year approaches because he ultimately is thinking about the student athletes.
“Ultimately, my job is to make sure that we’re providing the best athletic experience for all of our student athletes that get involved,” he said.
OUTBOX: Get to know Tom Kim
Who: Tom Kim, Grayslake Central athletic director
Age: 30
Education: History major from North Park University in Chicago
Hobbies: Being around sporting events, running in competitive running events, and reading
Favorite sports teams: Bears, Cubs and Bulls – “in that order”
