The political blood started flowing at Van der Laan when she played with the boys of FC Lisse as a 15-year-old. “We became champions. I was not allowed to do my PhD because I was a girl… .that lit a great fire in me. I thought, what is this? It is unfortunate to feel that you are seen as different. I went from the main class to the third level nationally. The KNVB said, that is the pre-portal training for professional football for boys and not for girls: ‘they have no perspective’. I thought that was complete nonsense. In a speech to the gray KNVB bobos I referred to that as discrimination. Shortly afterwards they gave their consent. ”
Van der Laan played 29 international matches as a right back. She can still dream of two of those matches in Orange. “Against the great Germany in the Kuip, we kept them 0-0. Lots of friends and family in the stands. ” And a lost final in Beijing during the student games. She was awarded A status by NOC-NSF. “You can pay the rent.”
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She stood in front of the class for seventeen years, Van der Laan wants to capitalize on that experience at the Binnenhof. “What I like about secondary education is that you can give those children the belief that they can do a lot more than they think. That is why I also want to work on an extended first year, so that children can develop freely for longer before they make a choice. And I want to put the workload of students on the map. And if you let a generation of 15-year-olds leave with low reading skills, then that is also a major concern, I want to denounce that. ”
What she now dreads is what comes her way once she is a Member of Parliament. “How am I going to manage that with my family, that’s always a doubt for me. I am a mother of three sons, that’s the most important thing! I’m confident, we’ll take care of it. I wonder, gosh, what kind of life am I going to get again? The work is important, you work long hours, I understand that, but it has to be in balance. I hope we have a team, that they point out to me: you can do less there, you have to be there. ”
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I wonder, gosh, what kind of life am I going to get again?
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