Lawton High kicker Daniel Kim (24) tacks on an extra point during a preseason scrimmage against Edmond North on Aug. 16.
Growing up, all Daniel Kim wanted to do was fit in with his peers.
He wanted to blend in with the crowd — standing out wasn’t as objective he often pursued. However, fitting in was made nearly impossible because of the constant jabs he received about his Asian heritage and characteristics.
“I used to be bullied about it,” said Kim, whose family is originally from South Korea. “It was usually just childish insults about Asian eyes and probably the classic ‘Ching Chong’ type deal. I didn’t like being different because I’m Asian. It doesn’t bother me now — that was something when I was younger. Dealing with stuff like that at an early age kind of helped me develop a tolerance to stuff like that and helped me understand how I should respond to situations like that.”
Once Kim got to high school, though, focuses shifted more toward social status than appearances. Although the slights toward Kim greatly diminished at that time, his desire to blend in didn’t.
“Transitioning into high school, everyone wants to be the cool kid,” Kim said.
Most of his fellow students participated in extracurricular activities such as sports, so that’s the route he decided to take as well.
Kim achieved his goal, enjoying three successful seasons with the Lawton High soccer team thus far.
Entering his senior year, Kim was content with where he was in terms of his studies and being involved in a sport. However, he received a request during the first week of the schoolyear that would change his athletic career forever.
LHS football coach Ryan Breeze issued a challenge to his players to bring as many new prospects to the team as possible in mid-August.
Fellow senior Hector Becerra took the challenge seriously, and knowing the team needed a kicker, he knew just who to go to — Kim.
“I didn’t know much about football,” Kim said. “At first I didn’t want to because it sounded like a lot of work, but it was a new thing, and I thought it’d be fun to try.”
Of course, Kim did undergo a short adjustment period.
“The first time putting pads on was weird,” Kim said. “I thought it’d be the same, but it adds on a little weight. That weight does make a difference, but you just have to get used to it.”
The learning curve was a short one for the valedictorian, though, and before long, Kim was showing off his kicking abilities for the coaching staff on a regular basis.
“I’m glad Hector brought him out because I thought we were in trouble,” Breeze said. “We didn’t have a kicker.”
Through four games, Kim has tallied 10 extra points in 14 attempts, and he also connected on his only field goal attempt — a 26-yarder against MacArthur.
Kim said though he had practiced kicking field goals at practice, it was a surreal feeling knocking his first try right down the middle of the uprights against a city rival.
“Everything slowed down because it was my first time,” Kim said. “I was a little nervous, but I was like, ‘Alright, I’m just going to do my thing.’ Then I kicked it, and when it was going up, that was the longest maybe one second of my life. It was pretty straight on, it went in and it was hype.”
However, not every kick has gone Kim’s way.
In the Wolverines’ season opener against Altus on Aug. 30, the Bulldogs managed to get through the line quick enough to block what was Kim’s third extra point attempt of the night. That was his only miss of four tries in the 45-35 loss.
“It happened really fast because I’m just concentrating on the holder getting the ball and timing of that right,” Kim said. “So I kick it, and obviously everybody is rushing in. It happened really fast, and at first, I didn’t even realize it got blocked until I saw everybody else.”
Much like quarterbacks with interceptions, kickers must have a short memory after missing kicks, otherwise their self-doubt might start to creep in and send them in a downward spiral.
Kim knows exactly how to handle the pressure, though. He is 4-for-4 after misses this season.
“If I miss, I just forget about it because I don’t want to get in a slump,” Kim said. “It probably happens more than I want it to, but I don’t let it get to me. It frustrates me a little because it seems like something that shouldn’t happen, but it happens, and I move on.”
In the midst of trying to find his place among his peers, Kim found his niche in kicking a ball used in a sport he never thought he’d play just two months ago.
Football has also given him a different perspective on life, sprouting a new confidence from within him.
Now, as a standout kicker for one of the premier football programs in the state, Kim has learned to embrace his differences and use them to his advantage, regardless of whether that be on the field or in the classroom.
“I just try to do the best at everything I can,” Kim said. “It’s more of time management being hard because I have football, I’m in student council and I have my studies. It’s kind of hard to manage the time, but I have to get it done, and I make it happen. Sometimes it’s late nights, and it sucks. But other times, if I have any extra time in class, I try to get stuff done there. I basically have to be the nerdiest person possible.
“I tried to be like everybody else, but it doesn’t matter now because I am who I am, and I do what I do.”