Year 10 pupil plays for Romania FA

It’s not every day that a Berkhamsted pupil trains like a professional athlete. But for Year 10 pupil Maya K, who was invited to join the Romanian national U15 football team over summer, this dream became a reality.

Maya has been playing football since she was nine years old, although only recently started to take it more seriously. Last year she began playing academy football and went on to trial successfully for England’s Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA).

‘Then I decided to take it a step further’. After sending a video of herself to Romania, Maya was invited to travel to Bucharest for an intense eight-day training camp. Staying in the national football centre alongside professional footballers, Maya was driven hard. ‘We took ice baths, we did proper rehab – it was really something’, she says. With training and meetings twice a day, and only being allowed her phone for an hour each day, Maya demonstrated the mental and physical strength of a true professional athlete.

‘It was a really memorable experience. I think I’ll remember it for the rest of my life’. In addition to her training, Maya played in two televised matches against North Macedonia and won both games (5-0 and 2-1). Sharing attack lines with players from top clubs in the US, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and of course, Romania, she was part of a truly incredible team of young talent.

‘I would say that Berkhamsted has helped me become the sports person that I am’.

Maya reflects that the experience helped her learn to become more adaptable in new environments. ‘It was something I wasn’t used to, and the first couple of days I felt like I wasn’t fitting in. Some of them knew each other already as they’d been training together before. It was pretty tough for me’. The language barrier was also an obstacle as Maya had to re-learn Romanian – having lived there for eight years. ‘I don’t speak as well as everyone else, so that was challenging. But I overcame that after the first few days, and then it started to get better’.

‘I’ve learned to keep pushing’, Maya says. ‘Because at the start I wasn’t sure if this was for me. But I kept being resilient, and in the end it worked out. I achieved something that I’ll look back on in thirty years and be really proud of’.

Looking forward, Maya endeavours to keep pushing. ‘There’s a call up in September for an international tournament, so hopefully I’ll get called up for that.’ If not, that won’t get in her way. ‘I’ll keep working and go for a trial for U17 Romania’.

‘I would say that Berkhamsted has helped me become the sports person that I am’, Maya says. She expresses her gratitude for both her teammates and teachers, who always encourage her to work hard in whatever sport she chooses to play (netball, lacrosse, football, cricket – the list goes on!). ‘I am very grateful to all the teachers, in particular Mr Vila, for supporting me throughout my time playing sports here’.

During her time at the training camp, Maya demonstrated remarkable determination and resilience. We are so proud of her and can’t wait to see what she does next!

We look forward to welcoming families to our Sports open event on Thursday.