Unique knowledge and experience sharing and support from industry expert Daria

I was 16 years old, in my first year of university, when I started working as a freelance journalist in the football club "Shakhtar" (Donetsk, Ukraine). It was and still is a strong team. I have always loved football, writing and languages, and since childhood I dreamed of working with my favorite football players. I studied German and after lessons I went to "Shakhtar" trainings, club events, or games. It all started with the fact that once, before an important game, I came to our coach, Mircea Lucescu, and told him that I love football very much and I want to do something useful for the team, as a volunteer. Lucescu was surprised that I knew English well. He took me to the head of the press service and told him, maybe we should take this kid to practice. Instead of practice, I became the author of a column in the club magazine. I was responsible for writing interviews and articles, thinking of new topics.

Unfortunately, sometimes the players made fun of me because I was small and a girl. Once, I decided to write about football players' cars, I started to survey them. At first everything was going well. Someone had a Porsche, someone had a Mercedes, I also collected some funny stories. Suddenly, our left guard says: "Daria, do you know which car I have?" Ariston!" - and the whole team started laughing.

In short, I thought that such awkward moments and stupid jokes are the worst, but once, there appeared a girl who really wanted to get into my position, became my boss's girlfriend and took my columns and place. I was 18 years old at that time. It was a big shock. Especially since I was friends with this girl, we often watched football together. At that time I realized that the world is not a 100% friendly space.

Daria Kholodilina – National Tourism Administration, Brand Development Department. Author's book: "Vinologue. Georgia: A Guide to the Cradle of Wine”, blog www.dariko.net.