'Sense of family is really important' - Robin Kelder's incredible 21-year journey back to Al Fateh

Robin Kelder probably has little memory of it himself, but the pictures tell the story.

There he is as a cute, cuddly newborn, showing off his gummy grin, the apple of his mother’s eye. There she is also, with a head full of black curly locks, gleefully holding her new son surrounded by nothing by desert plains in her adopted home.

At the time, Anita Maas was living in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and residing on the Aramco compound in Dhahran where she worked as a teacher for the American school.

In that moment, Robin in hand, little could she have predicted what his future might be. How could she? This was a different time in the history of Saudi Arabia, a far cry from the tourist haven it is today, attracting millions of visitors from around the globe.

After falling pregnant, she opted against returning to her homeland, giving birth to Robin in March of 2005. It was a decision that would prove significant, although it took almost two decades for it to materialise as to why.

Fast forward to last week and Kelder is back in the Kingdom. Although shorter and not as voluminous, he shares his mother’s curly locks, and like his mother, he arrives in the country for work at an institution of the East, one that shares the blue and green colours of his mother’s former workplace.

In a full-circle moment, one touchingly told by the club on social media, and one that symbolises how Saudi Arabia has changed, both from a societal and football perspective, from when he was first born. It’s now that the 21-year-old returns to continue his fledgling professional career with Al Fateh.

“I decided to stay here to have my baby, and because of that he has an opportunity to play football here,” mother Anita says in a video shared by Al Fateh.

“[It’s] really incredible, if you think about it. There’s been a lot of development [in the country]; when we were living here it was not possible to visit Saudi Arabia as a tourist, to be able to just travel here.”

While the family would return to their native Netherlands when Robin was still only a toddler, the country retained a special place in their hearts.

Back home in the Netherlands is where Robin’s love affair with the game began, and it wasn’t long before he was selected for the FC Groningen academy, where he would remain from age 11 to 18.

Late last year, he earned his first senior contract, although despite making the extended squad on a number of occasions, he was still to earn his first team debut.

“Even when he was very small, he would always be playing with a ball,” Anita explains. “He wants to give everything for football.”

Eligible for four national teams - the Netherlands, Curacao, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia - it is the country of his birth that is giving Kelder the opportunity to play senior football.

While he will have no memory of his earlier life in the Kingdom, nor speak the language, there is a palpable sense of a homecoming with his signing.

“The most important thing is everyone I speak to is saying they will make Robin feel at home,” Anita remarks, her pride beaming.

“That feeling of family, the sense of family is really important, which makes me as a mother feel more secure that he will find his place.”

If anyone knows what it's like to leave your family, your social circle and travel halfway around the world for an opportunity, it is Anita, who shared a profound piece of advice for her son as he embarks on this fresh journey with Al Fateh.

“My advice [to him] is know there are different ways of doing things,” Anita says. “It’s not just the Dutch way that is correct; other ways are correct as well. And it's just an enrichment of your life if you can notice that.”

As Anita followed her son back to Saudi Arabia for his official signing, it was also a full circle moment for her, returning to her former home and the land that gave birth to her pride and joy. It’s a place that will always hold special meaning.

When Anita stood with Robin in her hands 21 years ago, little could she have imagined what the future held. But as she sat there this week talking about her son’s remarkable journey back to the Kingdom, she was doubtless overjoyed at how it has played out.