Nick is studying the adjustment process of football expats. This includes a better understanding of dealing with specific relocation challenges in professional football, such as labor rights, cultural barriers, mental well-being and organizational support for players. Nick started last March with the research when he was granted the FIFA Research Scholarship 2021. This has led to a collaboration with the world players’ union FIFPro and an external PhD-position at ESHCC. The research is supervised by prof. dr. Jacco van Sterkenburg, prof. dr. Paul Wylleman and dr. Laura Jonker.
In his daily life Nick works for the Sports Council Amsterdam (Dutch: Sportraad Amsterdam). The Sports Council Amsterdam is an independent advisory body that was created by the city council in 1952, to give asked and unasked advice on the main points of sport in Amsterdam. The Council consists of maximum eighteen independent experts in their respective fields, such as elite athletes, sports journalists and movement scientists. Nick supports the Council in his role as sports policy advisor by conducting research on topics of interest, writing the advisory reports and organizing events.
Prior to that, Nick worked for a number of professional football organizations and on a project-basis for other sports organizations such as NOC*NSF (Dutch Olympic Committee). He loves to travel and has lived in the United States, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, among other places. During his undergraduate studies in cultural anthropology and developmental sociology, he studied in Germany in South Korea during exchange semesters at the Freie Universität in Berlin and Yonsei University in Seoul.
In his spare time Nick loves to play sports (recreationally). His favorite sports are indoor football, tennis and padel. To relax, he likes to go to a restaurant or cafe with friends.