Schussing down the mountain
In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Nea has chosen to support the Johan Cruyff Foundation (JCF). Nea’s contribution will help the foundation to promote snowboarding and skiing among disabled children and young people. In addition to being an ambassador for these winter sports, snowboarder Merijn Koek is also one of ‘Johan’s 14’ – a selection made up of young people, some of them handicapped, that has been formed to mark the JCF’s 14th anniversary this year. The 14 young people will act as proud ambassadors for the Johan Cruyff Foundation throughout the year, each representing one of the foundation’s remarkable projects designed to get young people active.
Merijn (20) has been snowboarding since he was about seven years old. He has always been a sports fanatic, with a preference for BMX and skateboarding. He started out skiing during winter sports holidays with his parents and got into snowboarding later on. Snowboarding is not that different from skateboarding, he figured, and I am pretty good at that. “Nevertheless, it took some time for me to gracefully schuss down the mountain”, he chuckles.
Merijn was born without both forearms and part of his right leg. He is one of the talents of the Van ‘FUNdament tot Talent’ (From FUNdament to Talent) project. This joint project of the Johan Cruyff Foundation and Dutch Skiing Association, which Nea supports financially, not only aims at raising awareness for skiing and snowboarding among young people, but also wants to enable athletes in these sports to reach the top. As an ambassador, Merijn can serve as an inspiration for young physically impaired people by showing them the best that skiing and snowboarding has to offer.
The emphasis is on what children can do, not on what they cannot do.
Merijn Koek is one of ‘Johan’s 14’: a selection of 14 physically or mentally impaired young people of the Cruyff Courts or students of the Cruyff College and Cruyff University. ‘Johan’s 14’ is an initiative of the Johan Cruyff Foundation, which celebrates its 14th anniversary this year. The foundation’s director, Carole Thate, is a former Dutch field hockey player, who competed in the 2000 Olympics and played 168 international matches for the Netherlands, in which she scored forty goals. She also holds a Master’s degree in child psychology. Carole Thate appreciates Merijn’s sports ambitions. “He has set himself an ambitious goal. We like that, because it fits our organisation. Children with a handicap are approached in a positive way through sports. The emphasis is on what children can do, not on what they cannot do. Take, for instance, a boy like Merijn, with no forearms and right leg, yet so talented and ambitious. He represents our outlook on life.”
The Johan Cruyff Foundation supports 45,000 young people every week in carrying out their sports via sports federations, associations, schools, rehabilitation centres, etc. Selecting ‘Johan’s 14’ was therefore not an easy task. “That is why we have decided to recruit 14 new young athletes every year as of now to give them the opportunity to be an ambassador for their sport. I am delighted that Nea supports our work in celebration of its anniversary year. We depend on gifts and donations, so the attention Nea brings to our young athletes this way is greatly appreciated. By the way, I played hockey with a Push brace for several years. Isn’t that a funny coincidence?”
Bursting with enthusiasm and ambition, Merijn has been snowboarding seriously for over a year. He competes in snowboard competitions, practises every week on an indoor ski track in Zoetermeer and is currently waiting for a leg prosthesis that will make it easier for him to snowboard. His studies, commercial science & marketing, have been put on hold in order to dedicate himself entirely to his athletic career. “There are about thirty competitors worldwide that I have to beat. I think I’m one of the top ten best snowboarders by now. My goal is to compete in the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games. Hopefully, there will be enough competitors for snowboarding to qualify as an Olympic sport.”
His second goal is to beat the American snowboarders. “They have excellent facilities, such as a private coach and a waxer. We, on the other hand, have to do everything ourselves. American snowboarders can commit themselves fully to their sport and, as a result, are much better than we are. But at the next races I want to beat them.” Merijn is very happy with the support he has been getting from the Johan Cruyff Foundation and the Dutch Skiing Association, which has enabled him to attend a training camp in Spain earlier this year with other talents from the Van ‘FUNdament tot Talent’ project.