“Everyone has the right to dream.”
FC Nordsjaelland
TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2021
As I entered FC Nordsjaelland’s stadium for the first time, these words, printed in huge block letters, struck me. When I decided to join FCN I knew I was entering a club with a unique model, one that focuses on player development, but what I didn’t anticipate was the depth of their shift in values.
I came to FCN because I thought this club would put me in a better position to reach the next level in women’s soccer. FCN has demonstrated their ability to develop and catapult their male players to top-tier European clubs (Mohammed Kudus to Ajax is one such example). With aims to do the same on the women’s side, I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. But as I settled in during my first week here, I started to realize that something greater was at work.
ICYMI: 2Cents FC | Episode 50 – Glasgow Glow-Up w/ Mariah Lee
The idea that everyone has the right to dream, on its face, doesn’t seem all that radical. However, when I started to really think about who is told, “you can achieve greatness,” “you can play at the highest level,” or even, “you can go to college,” I realized huge swaths of the population never hear those words.
Right To Dream is a non-profit organization that was founded in Ghana. Their academy began as a place for Ghanian kids to develop as soccer players, students, and leaders. Scholarships to American and British universities are awarded to the majority of their graduates, and with the acquisition of FCN, the best athletes have a direct path to a career in professional football. Not only do the students have unprecedented access to opportunity, throughout their time they are continually told that they can reach their dreams.
As a 25-year-old soccer player who didn’t receive accolades while playing in college, who has been waived by a professional team, and whose career has had as many ups as downs, I haven’t been told I can achieve my dreams in a very long time. It’s been so long in fact, that I stopped dreaming altogether.
Dreaming is terrifying. Allowing yourself to have aspirations that you may never actually realize is scary. It takes a lot of courage to dream and even more to share those dreams. Stating your goals out loud gives others rooms to hate, doubt, and bear witness to you falling short.
In the past, when people asked me what my goals were for soccer, my answers traditionally went something like, “just to play for as long as I can” or “it would be cool to play in Country X.” While those answers were true, they masked what was in my heart. Walking into practice at Right to Dream Park and looking up at those words every day has unlocked something deep inside of me, reminding me to dream.
Now, when I close my eyes and bow my head to sleep I see myself scoring the most goals in the Kvindeligaen, transferring to one of the top clubs in Europe, and suiting up for the U.S. women’s national team.
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Soccer, She Wrote is a bi-weekly Blog by Mariah Lee, following her journey as a Black-American Woman playing professional soccer in Europe.
