Thursday, April 28, 2011

Dutch club VVV-Venlo has sign to 1-year-old kid



YouTube videos have led to a number of footballers getting signed by clubs around the world, but this strength is the first time it's labored for an 18-month-old. It's very much a promotion stunt, but the trendy YouTube clip of young Baerke van der Meij kicking balls into his toy chest caught the notice of relegation-threatened Dutch top flight club VVV-Venlo and provoked the club to sign him to a 10-year professional agreement. Though, it is made clear that the bond is a "symbolic" one.

From the Telegraph:
The toddler joined VVV's star midfielder Ken Leemans during a training session in De Koel Stadium on Tuesday before being accessible the "symbolic" bond.

"The toddler's favorite place has not yet been resolute. However, we can speak of a right-footed player with a very good kicking method, perseverance and, importantly: football genes via his grandfather," said a VVV Venlo press release.

Baerke's grandfather used to play for the club and his family still lives in the city of Venlo.

As silly as this whole thing is, VVV-Venlo really did a great job of selling it, even going so far as to have the little boy attend a press meeting and sign an agreement. Well, scrawl on one, anyway. Here are some pictures from the event...





Among the fauxhawk, the runny nose, and the pleased look on his face, I'd say little Baerke has a brilliant future ahead of him.

Of course, Arsenal has long been the theme of jokes about signing young players, so we'll have to stay and see how it reacts to seeing an 18-month-old signed by another club. Someone is probably trying to shape out how to have a fetus sign a contract exact now.