Joey van Ravenstein (22) from Oss had a great time in Curaçao. Together with his teammates from the G-team of UDI’19 from Uden, he participated in the football tournament of the Special Olympics Kingdom Games, together they represented the Netherlands. “I scored once against Curaçao,” he says proudly.
“It went well,” he says while he is still at the sunny destination. He and his team won twice against Curaçao, and the Netherlands lost against Aruba. “I did my best, that’s all you can do.” The Netherlands came third. “We’re going to celebrate that,” he says.
Joey, who has autism and ADHD, traveled alone for the first time. “I was nervous at first,” he says. “But it wasn’t as bad as I thought.” He is proud that he went. “Not everyone dares to do this.” Not only did he play football, he also swam, walked, bowled and took a tour of the island.
Warm weather
Joey had trouble with the warm weather, it was too hot for him. “30 degrees doesn’t seem like much, but 30 degrees in the Netherlands and 30 in Curaçao is completely different. I don’t really like the heat, but rather the cold. So I am very happy that we are going back to the Netherlands soon.”
Before he left, he said he thought it was a ‘special’ and ‘also exciting’ adventure. Not because he was traveling alone for the first time, without his father. But because he had never flown for so long. It was also exciting for his father Jos, because his son never 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 now I have to let him go slowly.”
Jos was already proud before his son left. “I am proud of what he has achieved, because he had to do it himself.”
