Cato Pijnacker Hordijk left ADO Den Haag in January for Åland United, a club on a Swedish-speaking Finnish island group in the Gulf of Bothnia.
The 23-year-old defender had just won a starting place in The Hague and still had six months left on her contract, and ADO let her go without a fee.
She had finished her medical bachelor’s degree and had a gap year before her master’s, so she decided it was then or never to play abroad.
Her agent Sander Luijten also represents the Åland United goalkeeper Lilja Niiranen and made the introduction.
Away matches on the Finnish mainland start with a night crossing on a cruise ship, with a pick-up at home at 22:00, a night in a cabin and arrival in Helsinki at 10:00.
The trip to KuPS in Kuopio kept the squad on the road for 48 hours.
She has scored twice and holds a starting place, and although the title is gone with two matches left, the club has reached the Europa Cup qualifying rounds.
The season ends at the end of October and she has not decided whether to return to her studies or move to a stronger Scandinavian league.
