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Zeeland | October 9, 2020

Indoor soccer player Said Bouzambou: 'I am now proud that I grew up in poverty'

Poverty affects 1 in 12 Dutch children. There's absolutely no money for a sports club. This was also the case in Saïd Bouzambou's family, until his sister went to university. Saïd's parents came to the Netherlands from Morocco fifty years ago. Besides feeding their ten children, they also had to support the family in Morocco. Therefore, Saïd's father decided to work double shifts. "But there was no money left for new clothes or a sports club. It was a real struggle to survive," he emphasizes.

When Said turned thirteen, his sister went to university. During her studies, she came across the Youth Fund for Sports & Culture. She knew how much Said, like his friends, wanted to join a football club, so she enrolled him. The application was approved. The Youth Fund decided to pay the annual membership fee. This turned out to be Said's golden ticket. Armed with a voucher from the fund, he went to the store to buy his first football boots. "I bought something just like Ronaldo's."

'I am now proud that I grew up in poverty'

At sixteen, he discovered indoor soccer. Then everything suddenly happened very quickly, and Saïd was scouted. Now thirty, he's become an international indoor soccer player with fifty caps to his name. In Indonesia – where indoor soccer is a big thing – Saïd even signed a contract with a sports brand: "Where I used to share my shin guards with my older brothers, I can now choose which sports gear I want. It's a world of difference," he says with a laugh.

Saïd emphasizes how defining his childhood was: "Growing up in poverty means facing prejudice. You have to work five times as hard as others. This has shaped me, made me more creative and stronger. In that sense, I'm also proud that I grew up in poverty." As an intermediary for the Youth Fund for Sports and Culture, Saïd regularly encounters children he recognizes in himself. He tells them, in particular, that they too can achieve anything: "Opportunities are plentiful in the Netherlands. All you have to do is grab them with both hands and really go for it!"

This article appears in Flair issue 41 from October 7 to 13, 2020.

Said and Kees Jansma appeared on FOX Sports' De Eretribune on Saturday, October 17, 2020, to discuss our fund and Sam&. Watch the segment here: