Splinter de Mooij announced last week that he will be exchanging professional football for a study of medicine at the Free University of Amsterdam. The message stirred up a lot and was even picked up outside the Netherlands. “Even La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote about it,” says De Mooij in an interview with it Algemeen Dagblad.
De Mooij became fascinated by the medical world at a young age. “I often watched hospital programs. In primary school I always said: ‘I want to be a football player and a doctor’. I also made a profile paper in high school in which I investigated how you can reduce the chance of a fatal outcome in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest in the field, following the incident with (Abdelhak, ed.) Nouri. ”
The nineteen-year-old attacking midfielder has played in the youth academy of Feyenoord since 2014, which took him away from HVV in The Hague. De Mooij made his unofficial debut in the main squad this season in the exhibition game against Willem II and could have remained as a player of Feyenoord Under-21 next season. Nevertheless, he enrolled in medical studies at the Free University of Amsterdam and was informed in April that he had been accepted after two selection rounds. “Then I was shaking from head to toe. A euphoric feeling, but now I really had to choose between football and study. ”
Through the days for a walk at the Haaglanden Medical Center, De Mooij knew he wanted to enter the medical world. “The reactions were surprisingly positive. I received messages from many former teammates and it was widely picked up by the media ”, says De Mooij. He understands that people wonder why he is leaving football for a study. “But that second dream isn’t it? I want to make people better, save lives. When I walked into the IC, I noticed that my hands itched to help myself. Football remains wonderful, but I want to go to hospital. ”
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