Who is Hagon Kim?
Hagon Kim is one of the undisputed leaders and respected veterans on the UNBC Timberwolves men’s soccer team. He’s the President of the Timberwolves Student Athlete Society (TSAS). He was a Canada West All-Rookie selection who has started every game he has since played in a UNBC uniform (58 as of October 25, 2026). And new to his resumé is a U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian honour after he posted a remarkable 4.22 GPA during the 2025-26 academic year. That's not all. On November 4, 2026 Kim was named the Canada West Men's Soccer Community Service Award winner.
Talented, reliable, humble and genuine, Kim has earned the respect of his teammates, coaches, classmates, UNBC support staff and members of the Prince George community. As President of TSAS, he helped lead the society to a record-breaking year for its annual MVP campaign, raising more than $12,000 in 2026. The funds were then directed to a local family rebuilding their lives after escaping domestic violence.
But here’s what you may not know, and here’s what he wants you to know.
In August of 2023, the promising path he had started to build for himself at UNBC came to a grinding halt when he learned that he was academically ineligible to participate in soccer. Failure to complete the necessary amount of courses during his first season at UNBC meant that he’d miss the entire 2023 Canada West season. For an international student-athlete who had already established himself as a star on the field, this news could have derailed everything.
Instead, it changed him.
What happened next isn’t just a story about getting back on the soccer field. It’s a story about accountability, forgiveness, inner-strength and deciding what kind of person he wanted to become when nobody was watching. He didn’t stop at the minimum.
He kept going.
He became an elite student, a community leader, a captain, a mentor and the kind of person that we can all take inspiration from.
--
On August 25, 2023 it was game day for Kim and his UNBC Timberwolves teammates. Another Canada West men’s soccer season was set to begin, and Kim and the TWolves were set to host the reigning conference champs from UBC – A team they’d defeated once and drawn once a season ago.
For Kim, who’d earned a selection onto the Canada West All-Rookie team for 2022, it was meant to be the start of an exciting second season, but hours before kickoff at Masich Place Stadium, those plans abruptly changed.
The phone rang.
On the other end was UNBC’s Athletic Director Loralyn Murdoch and the news wasn’t good. News of his academic ineligibility soon followed, and from there?
Silence.
“Leading up to the second season, deep down I knew that I probably wasn’t eligible to play. But I refused to believe it, and refused to acknowledge it, at least until that phone call,” reflected Kim, while seated at the Good Earth coffee shop at the UNBC campus in early October 2026. “I went to school right away, and tried to fix it, but in that situation, there was nothing I could do to fix it. I didn’t have the necessary courses completed to play. It sounds stupid looking back, but that was the reality.”
Kim’s new reality hit him like a ton of bricks, and his first instinct was to pull away. Game days were especially difficult. He attended home games, sure – but he purposely kept himself at a distance.
--
Asking for help didn’t come easily for Kim then.
As much as the bigger picture conversation about mental health has shifted positively, and more doors are open than ever before to encourage and allow people to seek help without judgement or scrutiny – There is still a lot of re-wiring in most of us, that still needs to take place.
A strict upbringing in South Korea played a role, sure. But at the time Kim didn’t want to make his problems somebody else’s. So instead, he faced his struggles alone, at least at first.
But here’s the thing. We as people may hate asking for help, but we as people often love to provide it. And finally, when life felt it’s bleakest, hiding behind pride was no longer an option for Kim – and he looked within his inner-circle and he expressed a need for help.
Kim’s boldness and bravery initiated two separate conversations which began his initial bounce back: One was with Timberwolves head coach Steve Simonson and the other was with star striker Michael Henman.
Was Simonson disappointed to not have his rising star defender in uniform in 2023? Of course. But Simonson’s ability to connect with his player on a human-level made a world of difference and opened the door for forgiveness and repair.
“The main thing that Steve cared about was my well-being and making sure that I was in a good, safe place mentally,” shared Kim. “It was never a conversation about ‘letting him down’ but more of a ‘you let yourself down’ and how are you going to fix it?”
Kim received more tough love from Henman - his teammate, mentor and friend. Disappointment, frustration and confusion were all a part of it, but Henman left no doubt that his biggest concern and worry was for his young friend and teammate’s well-being. The two remain close friends to this day.
So while the dust had fully settled, and Kim’s reality of academic ineligibility had fully cemented itself, he didn’t feel alone. He knew that he had people in his corner. Then, one morning, his reality stung a little less and the only remaining choice for Kim was to wake up and make a change.
--
Michael Henman wasn’t the only older friend and mentor that Hagon Kim met during his first season at UNBC. Three other teammates: Mitch Linley, Anthony Preston and Noah Ballinger all left a lasting impression on Kim, and perhaps unbeknownst to them, helped plant the seeds of giving in his mind.
During their tenures at UNBC, Linley, Preston and Ballinger were active members of the Timberwolves Student Athlete Society (TSAS) – the charitable arm of the UNBC student-athletes. All of those men left legacy of giving, and made a positive impression on Kim in their own unique ways. Add the fact that Ballinger, the TSAS President in 2023-24 was Kim’s roommate – it became an easy choice for Kim to join the Society.
If he couldn’t help the Timberwolves on the field, at least he could help the community off of it. He signed on as the TSAS Treasurer, beginning a chapter that would yield incredible satisfaction and life lessons. Hagon Kim’s transformation was well underway.
--
It took nearly three years, but Hagon Kim vividly remembers the feeling that washed over him when he received his first A grade in an accounting course. That first ‘A’ came as a direct result of the hard work, sacrifice, and heeding advice from the people who mattered and were all factors that had put Kim onto a different, more positive path in 2024-25.
On the pitch, Kim was academically eligible to play, and his one goal and four assists ranked him second on the team in scoring. He started 15 games and was well on his way to rebuilding that trust and faith with his teammates and his head coach. As captain Connor Lewis finished his fifth and final season in Green and Gold, there was a clear need for somebody to step up and fill that large leadership void in the years to come. Kim didn’t go asking for it, and nor did he expect it, but he earned it.
Off the field, Kim’s habits had undergone a major transformation. He was still the same social, extroverted guy deep down, but the more success he experienced in the classroom, the more he felt he needed to prioritize different things. At times it was lonely and the FOMO (fear of missing out) was real. But it was impossible to argue with the results and the progress that he was experiencing academically.
Kim’s role with TSAS had also expanded. In 2024-25 he found himself in the Vice President’s chair. Even with a full soccer schedule and a demanding school schedule, Kim still found the time and energy to dive head-first into the TSAS MVP Campaign alongside his fellow committee members.
Thanks to the annual TSAS Fill the Bus Campaign and Dodgeball Tournament, Kim helped the TSAS raise over $7000 to help a local athlete named Jake McLeod battle a rare, terminal form of cancer. At the UNBC Athletic Awards banquet in the Spring, Kim received the KJM Sales Timberwolf Award for his community efforts.
It was here, at this point, that Kim forged a memorable and important friendship with TSAS President Bella Mesquita (UNBC Women’s Basketball) who Kim credits immensely with both helping him through difficult moments that would still appear, and further sharpening his passion for charity. It was Mesquita’s urging, and confidence that she held in him, that ultimately led him on a path to becoming President of TSAS.
Heading into the summer of 2025 Kim had a new lease on life, and all signs were pointing towards a successful season ahead.
But the biggest lessons in life, leadership and success were still to come, and the transformation of Hagon Kim was about to reach new heights.
--
Bianca’s story stopped Hagon Kim in his tracks.
A local mother of two had recently experienced domestic violence, and their whole world was suddenly forever changed.
When Kim, now the President of TSAS, was made aware of Bianca’s situation, he and his fellow committee members lept into action.
Every year, the TSAS launches an MVP Campaign, where a local family is chosen and funds are raised for them through a bottle drive, a dodgeball tournament, and a few other smaller initiatives throughout the academic year.
Kim’s first instinct as TSAS President was, “Let’s set a fundraising record.”
“As student-athletes, we believe in using our platform for something bigger than ourselves — to bring light where there is darkness and remind others that community always wins,” Kim said at the time. “We can't do this alone. It takes compassion, support, and most importantly, community. We're inviting everyone in Prince George to join us in showing this family that they are not alone.”
The 2025-26 chapter of TSAS was highly motivated from the jump, and immediately they set out to raise the most money ever from an MVP campaign.
It began with a newly created three-on-three basketball tournament held in October, and it continued into the Spring with the staple events like the two-day Fill the Bus bottle drive, and the MVP Dodgeball tournament.
The result was a cheque for over $12,000 that was presented to Bianca and her two young children in September of this year. The money received will help fund a private autism assessment for Biana’s son, which can hopefully help her family access government funding and assistance once a diagnosis is finalized.
“When I was at a low point at UNBC, I was fortunate to have people in my corner who wanted to help me,” reflected Kim. “The help from others has pushed me to become ‘somone that people can ask for help, or someone to listen, or someone who people can be comfortable speaking too without the fear of judgement. It feels so good to help people and it’s rewarding when you can make even a small difference in somebody’s life. When we handed that cheque to Bianca it felt so rewarding because we used our time and effort to make a small difference in their lives. It’s a memory I’ll carry with me forever.”
For a second straight Spring, Kim received the 2026 KJM Sales Timberwolf Award. He and the 2026-27 gang of TSAS members are already hard at work making plans for the next MVP campaign, and further details will be released as and when they’re finalized.
--
In the Spring of 2026 exams were done, Kim was sitting at his house alongside fellow UNBC Men’s soccer player Demian Dron, and together they were tabulating their grade point averages from the 2025-26 academic year.
To become a U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian a student needs an average of 3.66 or higher, and as Kim did the math (one of his many talents), he fast realized that his GPA for 2025-26 was going to obliterate the minimum.
His GPA for 2025-26 was
4.22!
From academically ineligible in 2023-24 to a 4.22 GPA in 2025-26 while also leading a soccer team and serving as President of the Timberwolves Student Athlete Society during a record-breaking term?
Story book stuff, indeed.
--
Now 23, life today for Hagon Kim still feels as busy and productive as ever. He’s still a mega-leader on the UNBC Men’s Soccer squad and has one more year of eligibility still available to him next year.
He’s back in the President’s chair for TSAS, and is working his way towards another U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian certificate.
In 2026 he added another piece of hardware to his list: The Curt Garland Award. The newly established Curt Garland Leadership Award was presented to Kim on October 21, 2026. He was the first ever recipient of the award, and in the years to come it will continue to be presented to UNBC student-athletes who embody humility, service, positive influence and philanthropy.
His social life? Better, more balanced, and is once again a high priority.
His study habits? They’ve evolved.
His leadership? He’s now in that same age-range of a Michael Henman, Anthony Preston, Bella Mesquita or Mitch Linley where he can be an ear, voice, or shoulder for the younger players who may be going through any number of personal or academic struggles.
“I want people to realize that it’s okay and not embarrassing to ask for help if you need it,” insists Kim.
“Asking for help is worth it. Every. Single. Time.”
Plans for his future are starting to become clearer. He’s going to start doing LSAT prep, as he’d like to attend law school when his time at UNBC is done. And while the sand is starting to run low on his tenure at UNBC, his story is one that should continue to live in positively for many years to come.
Ultimately, Hagon Kim’s legacy at UNBC won’t just be measured only by goals scored, grades earned, and dollars raised. But it will be found in the lives he has impacted, the lessons that he has learned, and the incredible cautionary tale, redemption story that he’s experienced here.
His accomplishments are numerous and impressive, but what’s even greater is the character behind them.
Reliable, humble and genuine and a true difference maker and community champion.
This is Hagon Kim.
