At home in Amsterdam
After a training session and lunch at sports complex De Toekomst, Colin sits down at the table as a few teammates offer her some encouraging words: “Good luck, Isa, enjoy it!” Since her arrival last summer, the 21-year-old midfielder has felt completely at home in Amsterdam. “It’s going really well,” she says. “The group of girls is great. There are no cliques — everyone gets along with everyone. That makes it such a nice place to be.”
For Colin, that sense of togetherness is one of the team’s biggest strengths. “We laugh a lot, but we also work incredibly hard. At Ajax, there’s a real top-sport culture, but at the same time there’s warmth and humour. It makes it a great place to come to every day.”
From ballet studio to football pitch
That Colin would one day become a professional footballer was far from obvious. She actually started out in ballet. “My sister did it, so I wanted to as well. But then my cousin started playing football — and of course I wanted to try that too,” she laughs. At home, she first had to convince her mother. “She wasn’t too keen at first, but my dad said, ‘Just let her try it.’ And from that moment on, I was hooked.”
She began playing when she was seven. At first it was just a hobby, but in secondary school she realised she could really make something of it. “When women’s football started to grow, especially after the Euros, I thought: this is what I want to do.”
Colin grew up in IJmuiden, just a short distance from Amsterdam. “I recently found an old article I wrote as a kid, saying that I wanted to play for Ajax and the national team one day. And now I’m actually here. That’s so special.”
One team, one goal
Last summer, several Ajax Women players left for other clubs, and a number of new faces arrived. Colin was one of them. “Everyone thought it might take a while for us to gel,” she says. “But it actually clicked really quickly. Everyone’s open and eager to learn. We support each other, and you can see that in the way we play.”
Despite their youth, the squad already shows great maturity. “We know that every point counts. Everyone gives one hundred per cent in training, and the staff expect that too. That’s what Ajax is about. But the nice thing is: we do it with joy. The energy in this group is really special.”
The magic of European nights
One of the highlights so far has been the European campaign Ajax Women began in September. “It’s such a different experience from the Eredivisie,” she says enthusiastically. “You travel together, play against unfamiliar teams, and learn from every match. Everything’s new. That’s what makes it so special.”
Preparing for those matches can be more challenging, Colin admits. “You can only really study them through video footage. There’s a good chance you’ve never faced that team before.”
The away match against Grasshopper Club Zürich ended in a 0–0 draw, but Colin looks ahead to Thursday’s return leg in Amsterdam with confidence. “We had the better chances and were the better side. Now we want to finish the job at home.” Her face lights up as she talks about it. “A European night at De Toekomst is something magical. Especially because it’s in the evening. The lights on, the crowd behind us… it gives you goosebumps.”
Learning, adapting, moving forward
The 0–0 against Grasshopper felt like a small setback, but Colin knows that setbacks are part of the process, and there’s little time to dwell on them. “After a draw or a disappointing match, you always have that feeling of: this was frustrating. But at Ajax, you learn to switch quickly. The next game comes around fast, so you have to move on. Luckily, we’re really good at that as a team. We talk, we laugh, we look forward. That’s our strength. We know we want to go as far as possible in Europe and play in the Champions League next year — and we’re giving everything to make that happen.”
A big part of the team’s development, Colin says, is thanks to head coach Anouk Bruil. “She’s clear, involved, and very approachable for all the players. That works really well, especially in such a young team.” The results speak for themselves. “We’ve only conceded one goal so far. That says it all. Training sessions are intense, but that’s what makes us grow every week.”
Looking ahead
The team’s development goes hand in hand with Colin’s own. Alongside football, she studied to become a childcare worker and worked in a nursery until recently. “Working with children was amazing,” she says. “It gave me energy, and it was nice to have something completely different alongside football.”
Now, however, her focus is fully on her sporting growth. “Ajax has always been my dream club, but I want to keep improving. One day, I’d love to play abroad, England or Spain would be incredible. Women’s football there is on such a high level. But for now, I want to give everything here. I want to be important for the team and play as many minutes as I can.”
She knows that everything she’s learning now contributes to the future she envisions. “Ajax helps me grow as a player and as a person. That’s the most beautiful thing there is.”
As the conversation wraps up, Colin laughs as she shares her plans for the rest of the day: “I’m going out for dinner with my sister. Our parents are on holiday, so it’s a bit of quality time together.”
