“Dad, I actually don’t want you to come,” says 22-year-old Joey van Ravenstein from Oss with a lot of self-confidence, just before he leaves for Curaçao on Wednesday. There, together with his teammates, he will represent the Netherlands as a football player at the Special Olympics Kingdom Games. It is difficult for father Jos to hear, but according to him the message also shows the development of Joey, who has autism and ADHD.
Joey doesn’t know exactly where Curaçao is when he looks at the world map in his bedroom. But he is certainly looking forward to his international football adventure. “I find it special and also exciting. Not because my father is not coming with me, but because I have never flown for so long.” Together with eight teammates from the G-team of UDI’19 from Uden, Joey will be in action at the Special Olympics Kingdom Games (see box).
It is also exciting for father Jos. Never before has his son traveled without him. “He has to do it alone and that means letting go a bit. I find that difficult. I have often held his hand and I have to let go slowly.”
“Ten years ago no one thought it would come to this”
Joey was four years old when he was diagnosed with ADHD and autism. “Our Joey is special, that’s what we say. When I read the report, I thought: ‘this is not my child’. You want the best for your child. That’s what every parent wants. But at such a moment you are confronted with the facts that you have a special child. He will need better guidance. You come into contact with agencies and subsidies.”
Father Jos has always continued to believe in his son. Joey now works three days a week: he ensures that medical supplies are packed in boxes. A bull’s-eye: “Joey has developed enormously independently. He gets up on time, makes his own bread, puts out his own clothes and cycles to work himself. Ten years ago, no one thought it would come to this.”
In the meantime, TeamNL’s backpack is already ready in Joey’s bedroom. He has been given shirt number seven. “I hope I’m not behind on the left or right,” he says. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in that position.” Joey doesn’t really have any expectations. “It still has to happen, so I don’t know how I will find it and what it will be like. It seems very fun and interesting. You are close to the equator.”
Although Jos does not go along, he gives his son this special adventure. “I am a proud father, but I don’t say that to him often. I am proud of what he has achieved, because he had to do it himself.”
What are the Special Olympics Kingdom Games?
The Special Olympics Kingdom Games are being held for the second time. The idea of the event is to bring together various athletes with disabilities from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The athletes come from Bonaire, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius and the Netherlands.
Four sports are on the program during the tournament: athletics, bocce (a kind of jeu de boules), football and swimming. Joey and his teammates represent the Netherlands in football. Five athletes from AV Sprint in Breda do this in athletics. The event in Curaçao starts on November 20 and lasts until November 24.