Personal Statement
When I was 7 years old I started showing interest in soccer. As I was new to Rio de Janeiro and all the boys played, I needed to learn to play in order to make friends. After this decision, I can say that soccer became a part of my life at that time. For eleven years I went through 5 different teams (e.g.: CR Flamengo, Barcelona - Rio Academy) and I made several friendships. But, on the other hand, I was able to perceive a common and sad reality in Brazil, which needs to be changed immediately.
In all the clubs I have been to, I had contact with people from different social classes and realities. Teammates who needed to leave home 5 hours earlier to go to training who could not go to training because they had to help their parents at work, who did not have cleats to play, who did not have money to pay for the bus or subway, were part of those realities. With my arrival in high school, it became increasingly difficult to play soccer and study at the same time. Conflicts of school and soccer practice schedules, little time to rest were common for me, so I had to make a decision and ended up leaving the team to concentrate on school and my education. And there is exactly where the big problem lied.
In Brazil, studying at a highly demanding school and playing soccer at the same time in an elite club is almost impossible. It’s very usual for children aged 14 to15 to drop out of school in order to stay in teams and try a professional career, Taking into consideration that in Brazil the chance of these children becoming professionals is very low, and if they get it, the salary and welfare are not good enough I strongly believe that education has to be an obligation for each young athlete with the aim of helping them build a more stable future.
