RE: 10 Year Old Son wants to join Football Academy

My ds plays for a local non-selective kids team. I live in fear of him being good enough to get scouted!

I don’t agree that if children aren’t scouted at 7 they won’t make it and that 9 or 10 is too old to be scouted. My son went for a trial and got picked this way at age 9. My husband wasn’t scouted until age 12 and ended up playing internationally and he didn’t even look at an academy before this. Most 5 or 6 year olds who started at the academy level were nowhere to be seen at 16. It is a brutal system but don’t be disheartened because age 9 is very young.

Everyone I know who has been involved in the academy, have let it go after a while.

or been basically dropped because they weren't good enough, and as the pp said, left high and dry with no support, no help to find a new club. Nothing. Totally cut-throat.

My son started playing academy football at the age of 5 years old, all the top clubs invited him down to play at their centres. He then got signed at the age of 9 for a club and missed out on the fun of playing for a trophy or a league and with his friends, he became a number. Clubs are not interested in your son's well being unless your son is one of the few and you can tell who the few are as the club coaches etc are so up the parents backsides its so pathetic the children see it too, the high fives to some and not others if your son has a bad game they know about it when they take them away to the changing rooms.

My son was eventually released at 14 just a phone call no help in finding him another club, no support. Now he plays for a grassroots team with a smile on his face.

If your son is good enough at 14 he will be picked up trust me as there were one or two grass roots boys whom got signed at 14 and are still there now.

DS has more balanced life now even though he does lots of music.

But I don't mean to criticise academy. I'm sure that kind of dedication is needed if you really love and want to make it to higher level (pro ultimately). It wasn't for my DS, that's all.

3/4 nights a week at 8/9 is where the huge compromise starts and they can potentially loose out on learning other sports and experience stuff like cubs and music etc

It was once a week to begin with so manageable. But when it increased to 3-4 times during weekdays, it was time to review the situation. On the training days DS couldn't do anything other than football. Quick change and tea after school and out in a car, then when' he's back home, quick hot drink or snack and shower, then bed.

It was more than an hour for us. But that was another thing. After school, long journey, a couple of hours training and another journey though much quicker on way home.

An hour is a long time for a 5 year old for a one hour training session but yes lots do it.

The journey was real put-off for us. DS travelled an hour one way for the training since he was only 5. It was still meaningful as DS loved it (not the journey but the training). But as he's priority and interest changed he started questioning about the long tedious journeys and asking us to move him somewhere closer. Luckily the training ground of the lower group at the same club was fairly close to us (20 mins or so driving) so he still enjoys playing for the same club but a lot less commitments and pressure.

If you are determined and passionate enough all the inconvenience would be worthwhile though. Now DS is heavily committed to music and we do ferry him as required but it's nothing compared with our football parent days... Football is a real hard core (for me at least).

As others have said they are scouted at U6/U7 and the scouts are everywhere. They all know which kids to look for and by U10 they don't seem interested. It is free of charge so you shouldn't be paying for it. My DS is currently with a pre academy and we don't expect him to be offered a contract. As others have said there is huge amount of travelling and commitment to the club which impacts on everyone. Plus you need to juggle work to do it all.

I also know boys who are thriving and determined to succeed. So it's not all negative. Go in with open eyes

‘No hunger in paradise’ is good too. I recommend parents read it and other similar stuff so they can make informed choices. Go in with open eyes. Some children thrive and some don’t

I also recommend the book I mentioned earlier. It tells you the problems of the system. The book certainly put me off the whole academy thing. I also knows a few boys who got axed quite brutally after all the devotion and commitments.

OP, I'd read this: www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/06/football-biggest-issue-boys-rejected-academies Football’s biggest issue’: the struggle facing boys rejected by academies from last year's Guardian. Having read it, I personally would be incredibly wary of letting my son sign up for an Academy.

The odds on a boy making it through the academy system into the professional game are incredibly long, and the amount of time it takes and the impact on their education means there's sod-all options open to the boys who don't make it after they've been "spat out" by the system.

Well, DS still belongs to the same club! But as he's moved out of the top group, the training venue is less glamorous now! Certainly no more dome! And less matches. Coaching is still good I think. But it's now once a week instead of 3-4 times a week.

Well sounds very like one of our local prem clubs... and yes you have to stand on the balcony in the dome if they let you in lol. But there are also loads of sessions under prem club banners that are really quite poor

The club DS belonged to runs award winning development centres/academy so the coaching and facilities were excelllent. They even had a dome to cover several pitches for winter training. Parents didn't get as good treatment as the players though. We even didn't have a place to sit down!

The scouts hang around the higher divisions of local leagues especially around the U7 / U8 leagues. Less so in the older age groups as a 9/10/11 year old who is still just playing grassroots is unlikely to be able to compete against a child that has been in an intensive ‘academy development group’ since age 5.. contracts are signed age 8

They do want to grab them before another club does, in the hope that they later make money for the club when sold etc so they invite hundreds to join ‘development sessions’ which are of mixed quality.

Another thing I was told was because those scouts were everywhere if you were talented you would be found.

I was told it was because they want to snatch talented ones before taken by other clubs. Not sure how true it is for them to start so early.

I don’t think most people realise how young it all starts. I see DC every week deemed ‘not up to scratch’ at age 5. They can barely dress themselves ..

Yes, it was a scouting day, Lifechallenges. No one knew though (or at least we didn't know). But now I know those guys are everywhere, from bigish events to very local small school matches.

Kutik73 those ‘fun days’ are in fact scouting days...looking for 4/5 year olds to get into their pre academies. They look like just a bit of fun, but have a serious underside.