Sanne Winkens, Financial Controller at FASoS, loves sports.
“As a child I did it all; I took ballet classes, went swimming, tried out judo, played tennis, and was part of the football team. Especially football has a special place in my heart. My mom is from Amsterdam and is fan of Ajax; after every game, she would call my grandpa to discuss the highs and lows. On top of that, I played football until I was 16.”
It therefore does not come as a surprise that she was the first in line to volunteer when her son’s football club was looking for extra coaches.
It was during the last lockdown, when the Dutch government announced that doing sports was only allowed until 17.00, that her son’s football club got into trouble. Her son’s football practices always took place from 18.00 to 19.00, and now they had to be brought forward to 16.00, just like many other teams’ practices. This created major scheduling difficulties for SV Haslou. The coaches at the club therefore made an appeal to all parents to sign up to become a temporary coach. Sanne did not hesitate and immediately signed up to help out on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on game days in the weekend.
Sanne takes her tasks as football coach very seriously. “In September, I will be doing a course on how to be a good football coach. It is sort of like to official KNVB (Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond; Royal Dutch Football Association) football coach training. You learn how to teach someone to pass the ball, amongst other things. I think it’s lovely that I get to teach kids how to be a good football player. But at the same time, I think it is important that kids have fun. There is so much emphasis on performance. But a kid who might not be the best football player now, might blossom next year.”
Would Sanne ever consider playing football herself again? “I’m really into teamsports and I enjoyed playing football. But I was in an all-girls football team with girls between the ages of 9 and 16, which was necessary to fill the team. At some point you are just too old compared to the youngest ones. On top of that, football takes up a lot of time. I don’t want that kind of commitment anymore. Of course, I have that commitment as a football coach for my son’s team now, but then it is more of hitting two birds with one stone. I would have to drive him to football practice and his games anyway, and now I just get to stay a bit longer and still surround myself with this great sport. I will keep on doing this until my son will start finding me annoying.”
