We meet Van Schoonhoven at sports complex de Toekomst, where she has just had lunch with her teammates. She may be new to the club, but she immediately felt at ease. “I’m having such a good time. From the very first moment, I was welcomed warmly. It feels very familiar and homely here. I settled in quickly.” The biggest difference she notices is in professionalism. "There are so many people around the team who make sure that we players can perform at our best. At other clubs, it was different, often because there was less budget to invest in that. Here, I truly feel I can be a full professional."
Her love for football started early, more than twenty years ago now. "That shows how old I already am," she laughs. As a little girl, she knew quickly that she wanted to play football, but first had to earn her swimming certificates from her parents. "I started at my local club. I was always driven and dreamt of becoming a professional, but I also knew how difficult that would be. At thirteen, I was scouted by FC Twente, after already having played in KNVB regional teams. At Twente I played until I was seventeen, then I made my Eredivisie debut at PEC Zwolle." As her own career took shape, women’s football in the Netherlands was also growing. "The prospects kept improving and becoming more realistic. You could really feel that something was moving."
Russian roots
Apart from football, another subject occupied Van Schoonhoven during her youth. She was adopted from Russia at a young age. Together with her brother, she was brought to the Netherlands in 2001. "I have no active memories of that period. I had a loving childhood. My parents are my parents, even if they are not my biological ones. But I always felt the longing to find my biological mother. I always said that before I turned twenty, I wanted to know where I came from."
"In 2019, I met her, together with my family from the Netherlands. That was really special, two worlds coming together. It made me grateful, as if I became complete. I am Dutch, I feel Dutch, but my roots lie in Russia. I want to learn the language and understand the culture better. Sometimes it feels unreal to imagine how different my life would have been if I had stayed there. In the Netherlands, you have a certain social security, but there you don’t. Moscow is still relatively Western; it’s a beautiful city, but in the little village where my family comes from, there is almost nothing. There’s no toilet, no tap water, and people really live in wooden huts. People are completely dependent on each other. It feels like going eighty years back in time."
Since the war, it has been difficult to maintain contact. "I last saw my family in December 2021, just before the war in Ukraine began. Now we mainly keep in touch through WhatsApp. Fortunately, they are doing well, and I hope the situation will change one day so I can visit them again. Until then, it’s just messages and photos, and the hope for better times."
Studies
Alongside football, she studies biology at Utrecht University. "I noticed I was missing something outside of football, a mental challenge. At my previous club, it was also strongly encouraged to study, because in women’s football, you usually need something else alongside it. I tried business administration for a while, but I didn’t enjoy it. I’m more of a science person. Biology fits better: I love nature and animals, and I care about the climate. It gives me energy and mental peace to have something outside football. I’m now in my second year and mainly focus on microbiology, molecular biology and cell biology."
Luckily for Van Schoonhoven, the university is very supportive, allowing her to combine her studies with football well. Precisely because the classroom is such a different environment, she finds it refreshing. "Lecturers really enjoy it. They say: 'Oh, a top-sport biologist. You don’t see that often.' I like noticing that I am more than just an athlete. There’s a person, a human being, behind the athlete."
In her free time, she enjoys walking, especially at her father’s place in the Veluwe. “I take the dog, and it completely relaxes me. During the week, my schedule is busy, so it’s nice to sometimes just do nothing, without any stimuli. Balance is important, especially when you combine sport and study.”
Career
Van Schoonhoven played for, among others, PSV, FC Twente, PEC Zwolle, OH Leuven and FC Utrecht. "That was due to a series of circumstances. I prefer to stay longer at a club, because then you can really grow and settle in. But it’s not always in your own hands."
At PSV and Twente, she suffered serious injuries, which required long recoveries. "Such things change your perspective. Sometimes it’s good to end up in a new environment. That’s why I wanted to go to Belgium for a fresh start, but that ultimately didn’t really suit me. At Utrecht, everything fell into place. I played two very strong seasons and reached a level I always knew I had in me. That felt like the crown on all my work: the injuries, the setbacks; I always kept believing in myself. I knew I had it in me. At Utrecht, it all came out, and that brought me here to Ajax."
The serious injuries she sustained at PSV and FC Twente have shaped her. Recovery was a lonely process, but she decided to invest all her time in herself. "You really get to know your body during such a rehabilitation. It sounds very cliché, but in the end, I came out of it physically and mentally stronger. Of course, I hope never to go through such a period again, but I don’t look back negatively. It made me more aware of my body and of how special it is to be fit and on the pitch."
She is optimistic about the current season. In the friendly matches against clubs such as Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, she already saw how much quality there is in this group. "Every single one of them can play football very well. And then we also have the European campaign for the Europa Cup. That’s new and incredibly exciting for women’s football. I think we can go far there, too. The staff are also very professional; everyone works together to help us perform at our best. It all feels very natural and provides a strong foundation for this season. The atmosphere is good, the culture is strong, and everyone wants to win. I think I can safely say that we really want to go all out for the league title."
