Mikkel Rygaard | 180°
“Never a failure - Always a lesson”
They laugh at me.
“Rylle, come on man…”, one of the bold, young guys says to me. At FC Nordsjælland I’m the DJ in the dressing room. I don’t know how I got that job, but I’m holding on to it.
When I'm in charge of the tunes, I give them a little bit of everything.
Right now, I’m giving them a classic: “ Lækker, Pt. 2 (feat. LOC) - Nexus Remix ”
It works every time!
But it seems like the young guns don’t always agree with me.
If they keep moaning, I hit them with some banter that young guys haven’t caught yet. If you catch my drift. I better not say more.
Everyone laughs though.
Rødby vs. Nykøbing FC.
A huge match for us as juniors between two big rivals.
“We can’t f******* lose against the bumpkins from Rødby”
That’s how we talked back then...
On the other hand we knew that it was dangerous to be cocky when we played at Lolland. It was about the bragging rights - always. Jens Stryger Larsen and I were partners in the midfield for that game.
"Come on, for f*** sake”
“You can do better than that!?!?"
That was how we yelled at our teammates most of the time. We were frustrated because they could not bring the ball under control or even make a pass.
When the match was done, and we started to celebrate the victory, Jens Stryger and I were pulled aside by our coach:
“You really have to think about the way you talk to your teammates.”
Apparently, some of our teammates were a bit upset about the way we were talking. We had never noticed, before our coach told us.
We just wanted to win.
The music was pumping at Flanagan’s in Nykøbing. My four friends and I were celebrating the weekend.
It was 11:54 pm my watch.
Next day I had to play a match for Nykøbing FC. And I was thinking, what difference does it make? I could be home in front of the TV or out here having a good time with my friends.
Unlike my friends, who had been drinking a lot that evening, I have only had one drink. But hey - I was 20 years old. I felt like the night had just started.
From the corner of the bar, where I sat, I started to look out over the room.
Until…
He looks at me.
I look at him, and he gives me the death stare.
Immediately, the guilt hit me.
“Immediately, the guilt hit me.
Our captain was injured and stood at the other side of the bar. The good vibes from a second ago died right there and then. It was one big catastrophe. I was out of there within a few minutes.
What the f*** was I even doing at that place?
After training on Monday the captain grabbed me.
In the corridor, away from the others, he told me he was very disappointed with me being out the night before a match.
And not only our captain, but my teammates were disappointed as well. What I did was not okay. And he said that he hoped it would never happen again.
Of course I had to admit I was disappointed and embarrassed, and I had to apologize to the captain and especially the team. But hey - I was a young guy. And I learned from my mistake…
Or at least that’s what I thought.
"I learned from my mistake...
Or at least that’s what I thought."
Kasper Hjulmand was waiting for me with his arms crossed outside the stadium in Farum.
Why is he there? Am I late? What’s going on?
Hjulmand said that he wanted to talk before I dressed for training. We walked into his tiny, little office.
After small talking a little bit he suddenly changed gears.
“Have a look at this.”
He turned the computer 180°, so I could watch him type: Google, Instagram, Mikkel Rygaard -ENTER .
He scrolled down on my page, and found a picture where I was laying on the couch with a big bowl of pick-and-mix sweets.
He didn’t think I should portrait myself like that as a professional soccer player.
“Come on man. Everyone eats candy sometimes…” I exclaimed. And he answered:
“Yes, I know that. But why publish something like that?”
My first reaction was of course making my profile completely private. I had about 1000 followers at the time, so how much damage could that picture do? I thought he was a bit crazy. A lot of the other players agreed with me in that situation.
Calm down!
But after all, Hjulmand’s question made me think.
What if a young boy or girl looks up to me as a professional football player and sees that picture.
As a professional athlete you are a role model for more people than you think. You are obliged to be serious about that. And so, I had to learn to be.
Basically it is about being the best version of yourself. All the time.
So I deleted the picture.
”Basically it is about being the best version of yourself.
All the time. "
"Mikkel Rygaard flattered by AGF-interest”
There were a lot of newspaper headlines in that period, and yes I doubted my future at FC Nordsjælland.
"Rygaard confirms AGF-flirt: It is a big club, that might me interesting for me”
Honestly, I was not happy with the lack of playing time and my role on the team.
“Do you want to go to AGF? Listen to Mikkel Rygaard answering the rumours”
I didn’t feel important at all!
Prior to the new season the team was gathered in the Players Lounge at Right to Dream Park.
The coaching team had decided that the players themselves should play a part in deciding who should be a part of the Captain’s Group.
Flemming Pedersen and the rest of the coaching team only had one demand. The captain group had to include two players from the Right to Dream academy, two from the FC Nordsjælland academy and two players older than the age of 24.
The day after the voting we got the decision:
"Rylle"
Of course I was very proud of the support, the voting showed. Most important the coaches could see that I actually was an important piece of the team according to my teammates.
I pause the Nik and Jay song, drop my cap and tie my bootlaces. Outside the locker room I can see the sun shining on the artificial grass.
When my boots hit the field, I lock back to the empty, red coaching seat. I nod and smile.
The more days I am at this club, the older I become, the more responsibility I get on the team, the more I can feel my inner coach starting to blush in me.
It is first at FC Nordsjælland that I started to wonder about my future. What do I do, when I turn 50?
Given that I am in a very young environment here, and have been given so much responsibility, the dream of being a coach and sharing my knowledge has been growing even bigger.
I feel that I have a lot to contribute because I have some years of experience now.
There's a lot of things I can give back to the future generations.
Mikkel Rygaard Jensen