Love On The Sidelines - Kenan Yildiz

Chapter 1

Ela

As a media and communications manager I was one of many people who were needed by the UEFA for the European Championship to cover media relations and support them. The club I work for, Juventus, has an on going collaboration with UEFA, therefore I was to help and support that field, granted I would get paid for it.

I've only been working for about three months at Juventus. This decision didn't come easy since I had to move from Germany to Italy, Turin to be exact. But I don't regret it. I've been to Italy many times in my life since life seems to take me there for some reason. I did learn Italian through a course when I was interested. It wasn't that hard since I'm a fluent Spanish speaker but there was a stark difference in terms of fluency.

And that course came in handy when I got the chance to work for Juventus. Up until now, everything was as great as it could be. I have made friends with everyone from the team and am trying to find friends outside of work.

Now I had to leave them behind for a while because I was going to Germany for the UEFA European Championship 2024. I was assigned to the Turkish team because I am a Turk and communication would be easier. I was really excited because our team had made it to the group phase and would hopefully win the championship. They had my support, for sure.

Juventus had won the Coppa Italia, we hit the end of the season, and now we are back for another tournament. Before I went to Barsinghausen, I landed in Cologne, North Rhine-Westfalia, and got picked from the airport by my parents who had missed me.

I spent a few days in our little town close to Dortmund, making up for all the times we spent apart. Those days were too short and I had to go where we would camp in Barsinghausen with the Turkish national team. The staff were provided with hotel rooms and conference rooms in which we could work.

I was welcomed by a staff once they saw my badge and led to my hotel room first to place my bags and secure them and then further to get to know my way around the building. Everyone was really nice and excited.

I immediately clicked with Rana, a fellow media manager whom I would be working with. She was 24, two years older than me, and was a free lancer and the leader of our group. She had more experience than me, which was good because I could learn a lot from her.

The national team had apparently already arrived and gotten accustomed to the environment. Rana somehow was aware of everything and updated me on everything. "You're struggling a little with your turkish aren't you?" She'd asked me once she noticed that I was struggling.

I blushed in embarrassment, "a little, when I'm excited I can't seem to express myself and the words get lost."

That was a struggle I've faced all my life, I was always trying to improve myself and in calm situations I would speak or at least think better than now.

"Don't worry about it, you'll get your point across," she winked and pulled me by my arm towards the conference room.

"Here we can do our work, and now that we're talking about work, we should go to the field and take some pictures to get the fans excited!" She had a big, proud smile on her face which in return made me smile as well. The energy was rubbing off on me.

"Alright, let's get the equipment and then we'll be on our way." We took the cameras, wires for transferring them to our laptops and Rana led the way to the field.

"The training didn't start yet, those who have time will be probably already be there, waiting to introduce themselves." I nodded in understanding.

"You haven't met any of them yet?" I asked. She shook her head, "not formally at least, I passed a few in the hallways, that's about it."