A lot of us have grown up playing with a shattered ball that has seen better days. We played on grass, mud and on the streets. We even played in places where we knew there was trouble on the horizon. The countless amount of times I accidentally kicked a ball into the door of my neighbours and had to run away from their angry yells. It was all worth it because I did something I loved.
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Now that love and obsession are being put into The Monday League, a brand I created in 2019. It simply started out with me in my old bedroom recording videos for YouTube. Nowadays, not much has changed but the background did over the years as my journey through life continued.
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The online magazine that you are (hopefully) reading is part of my final work for my studies in International Journalism at Thomas More University in Mechelen, Belgium. The central topic is the youth in football. Every year there are numerous children whose dreams of becoming professional footballers are thrown in the bin. But there are also dreams that come true. Dreams of the children that do make it. In these million dreams, there are also a million stories to be found. Dedication, pressure, resilience, setbacks, and glory, are just some of the aspects that highlight the importance of their stories.
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Grab a warm cup of tea and immerse yourself in their worlds.
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Yours truly,
Rik Tuinstra