Sixty children were allowed to imagine themselves as real Ajax players for a week. During the Ajax Camp at Hercules Zaandam, they were coached according to the training methods they normally use at De Toekomst, the training complex in Amsterdam. Jari, indeed named after the legend Litmanen, and Malik have become a lot better off, they think.
Shawn Vermaas is happy with his group of football players, he says in a short break. Has he spotted some talent yet? “Sure, but we don’t do scouting here”, he hastens to say. You should not see this initiative as the talent days that the people of Amsterdam also organize. “We are trainers, not scouts. We give the children training in the Ajax way. Five days a week they get a different training every time.”
Walk deep, fit and think
Noor is also present, as the only girl among the sixty participants. She is used to that, she usually plays as the only girl in a boys’ team. She says enthusiastically: “We learned here to run deep, to pass deep and to think deep. We have also been working on being able to play with both legs and scan around you what your position is in the field.”
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Jari’s father is already thinking carefully about next year, who knows, maybe his son will participate in the Ajax Camp again. With a wink: “I actually expect the contracts to be ready by then. It is necessary now, isn’t it.” Son Jari likes it: “Maurice Steijn, if you need us: call us!”