FIFA and UEFA Elite referee, and the first of non-Dutch heritage to reach the Dutch professional game.
Since 2010 he has also stood in classrooms across the country, as founder of Sport-Connecting-Us. That story, with every setback along the way, is the teaching material.
Footage: Albeda Talks · Albeda College Rotterdam · September 2025
“I don’t do this to be seen, but because I know what it means when someone believes in you. What sport gave me, I give back, to society, every single week.”
The Champions League: where the road from Haarlem led.
This is the pressure he teaches from, in the classroom and in the boardroom.
The work maps onto what police, justice and municipalities are already trying to do: young people who stay out of crime, fewer recruited as runners, and less aggression toward emergency workers. He reaches the young people institutions struggle to reach, with a story they take from him because he lived it.
The guest lessons and workshops slot straight into Preventie met Gezag, the Offensief tegen Explosies and the fight against criminal recruitment, aimed at young people in neighbourhoods where the pull towards crime is strongest.
We play a clip from a match, then work outward from it: respect, mindset, the choices you make, the rules you accept. Each one lands in the daily life of the young people in the room. Every programme is built for the group it is for.
Pricing on request. For schools and municipalities this is often fundable through citizenship or Preventie met Gezag budgets; for clubs and smaller organisations we tailor the format to what is possible. You receive a proposal within two working days.
Book a guest lesson or lectureThe subjects Serdar raises with schools, municipalities and young people, drawn from the classroom and the pitch. Which ones come up is decided together with the school, municipality or organisation.
Past collaborations include the KNVB, the Krajicek Foundation, the Voedselbank (Dutch Food Bank) and Albeda College in Rotterdam.
Not our words, but the schools' own, from primary schools to vocational colleges.
The most recent visit is on camera: Albeda College Rotterdam, September 2025 (see above).
Ministers and mayors who saw the work up close, and the government letters that name it. Every claim below links to its source.
From the University of Amsterdam effect study of Alleen Jij Bepaalt, the programme Serdar serves as ambassador for:
What you book is a Sport-Connecting-Us guest lesson or programme, not the Alleen Jij Bepaalt intervention itself. Serdar is an ambassador for Alleen Jij Bepaalt; the effect figures above come from the research into that programme (University of Amsterdam, 2018).
For a guest lesson, a single programme or an ongoing partnership. Tell us what’s at play, and we’ll shape the programme around it.
Pricing on request. For schools and municipalities often fundable through citizenship or Preventie met Gezag budgets; for clubs and smaller organisations we tailor the format to what is possible. You receive a proposal within two working days.
Requests are handled by Danny Schuurman (Apex Partnerships & Advisory) on behalf of Sport-Connecting-Us, with a response within two working days. Serdar schedules school visits across the Netherlands around his UEFA calendar; please request well in advance. Or email directly: info@apexpartnerships.nl
Serdar holds a valid certificate of conduct (VOG). Photos or footage of students are only made and used with the school’s written consent, in line with GDPR.