EUROPEAN international has had his Super League dream smashed after what he has described as a “really depressing experience.”
Dutch international Joran Schoenmaker, who signed for the North Wales Crusaders before Christmas, is now embarking on a trip to Australia to fulfil his top-flight rugby league dream after encountering a number of problems in the UK.
Schoenmaker posted on Facebook: “Speaking my mind.
“Chasing dreams isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Going to England to chase my dreams. Being a professional rugby league player and aiming for the most I could achieve with my potential.
“But it wasn’t what I expected at all. Brexit made it really hard for me to find a house and job, which the club didn’t really help me with in the beginning. After a month they tried to sort me some housing out and assisting me to find a job.
“My first week I stayed in an AirBnB, trying to find a house somewhere in the neighborhood. After a week I found a room where I could stay.
“The house was very dirty and expensive in a relative unsafe neighborhood. I basically had nothing to do except for gym and training on Tuesday and Thursday evening. This made me really depressed, because I didn’t have much money to travel as I had to pay my own housing and had to buy everything from scratch.
“Basically stuck in my own thoughts and asking myself what am I doing here? My visa didn’t come through because the club didn’t have a sponsorship license.
“That process would take around 1/2 months + my visa application would take another month. As the process only started after 3 weeks when I was already there, I basically couldn’t play games and had no income until April, but the team had only one game in April and then a month of which basically meant no income and games until May.
“A really depressing experience but many lessons learned. But I am not going to give up, I was there for around a bit more than a month and moved back last week. Striving forward, setting new goals and in search of new dreams.
“I really like a saying of Buddha which is; ‘What we think we become’.
“I interpret this as long as you keep your mind to it, you can achieve anything.
“My new goal I am setting is going to Australia and try it out there, maybe I’ll get some more luck over there and find my happiness.”
