Teenage Kicks: Thibaut Courtois

Thibaut Courtois is the latest player to take part in our feature looking back, recalling his days growing up in the world of football at Genk...

What age did you start at a professional club?

I joined Genk at the age of eight.

What positions did you play?

I started as a left-back. Because I played volleyball I had good reflexes and I liked to dive, so sometimes I went in goal when we rotated. I won the best goalkeeper award at a couple of tournaments and the idea grew that maybe I had more future as a goalkeeper than a defender.

When we started to play 11 against 11 on a big pitch – I was probably 10 or 11 years old – I was pretty much always in goal, but if there were injuries I could fill in outfield.

Who played with you who went on to make it as a player? Did you play against anybody that went on to be a big player?

At an international tournament when I was 11 or 12 I played against Jack Wilshere. And I played against Romelu Lukaku a few times when he was at Anderlecht. 

Where did you live? How did you get to training?

I lived in Bilzen. It’s about 15 minutes from Genk. When I was young my mother or father would drive me to training.

Later on I used to get a car or a minibus with some of my team-mates who lived in the same area or on the same route in to Genk.

Favourite music during your Academy years?

Favourite clothes? Any dodgy haircuts?

Pretty normal clothes – jeans, a t-shirt. We didn’t have a school uniform so we were free to wear what we wanted.

When I was 11 or 12 I had a mohican but it was not shaved on the sides, just longer on top in the middle. Otherwise pretty much the same as now.

Looking back, best piece of advice you received?

In Genk you have the stadium, then a road, some parking, and then the youth academy. One thing I remembered was being told by a coach at under-12 or under-13 level that you had to work hard if you wanted to cross the road and play at the main stadium. That was a challenge and it is nice to have accomplished that. 

How good were the facilities?

In my first two years it was at the old training ground, but then we moved to a new one and it was the best in Belgium. It had 12 dressing rooms, six pitches of great quality. It’s even better now.

Did you win any competitions?

I don’t remember if we ever won the league but we won a few tournaments. At Genk the main philosophy was to play well rather than for the result. At youth level in Genk you will always see the players trying to play, play, play. That was the most important thing.

Tell us about the moment when you were offered a professional contract?

I think I was 16, almost 17. I played one game for the first team and they gave me a youth contract. Then later, when I was about 18 and I was really part of the first team, they gave me my first official professional contract.

When I signed my father was there. It was nice, it was my first achievement and first step towards doing more good things.