To think the majority of kids can get into "invite only" football development programmes

[Futb0l]

I have a year 2 DS. He doesn't play at a football club or team but lots in his class do - 10 out of 15 or so boys.

This year lots of parents have dropped into conversations that their kids are now "at an academy", or "at an invite only team". 6 so far have mentioned this, and referred to their boys as being "advanced".

I don't really get this. How can you be "advanced" if most kids are 😂

Do parents really fall for this shit? It seems like there's "academy" spaces for any kid who tries for one & these programmes are pretty expensive.

AIBU to think these programmes are really common and most kids can play at a good enough level to "pass" the trial?

There was a big thing about this a while ago on the grassroots page.
These academy's are a money making scheme from gullible parents.
Stick with grassroots they seem to care about the children

If they're paying for their child to be there then in mu experience it's not all that selective. If the scouts genuinely see potential in a child then there is usually a separate academy that is not paid for and they often also will cover any expenses.

We have these ‘academies’ having our players join their teams, and fixtures can clash and the kid has to make a choice.
The dad - it’s always the dad!- will push for them to skip our matches in favour of playing for the ‘higher level’ team but how much fun the kid is having is debatable. And are they actually a higher level? Not really, we come up against them in summer tournaments and beat them more than we lose to them.

Sometime we lose the player entirely for a while- every single one has asked to come back so far ( not always possible unfortunately because we fill their place ) because it’s just not the same as playing with your friends, and it’s not as much fun, and really where is it leading to for most kids?

My son was in one of these academies between 7 and 10 they definitely trialled players and didn't take everyone. He played in the "junior Premier league" which was basically lots of similar "academies" it cost a fortune, took over weekends and required travel. Some of his peers were picked up by proper academies and thankfully he lost interest after a couple seasons so we could knock it on the head. It was just extra football for us while he enjoyed it definitely think its a money maker though

YANBU OP.

It's just a way of getting the kids and parents all excited so they can go around bragging that their playing for an academy or Pro team when it's just the name of a kids football club, nothing to do with a professional team.
It's all about the money.

‘junior Premier league’

H yeah, these guys. If your kid is really into football AND you can afford it … but it’s basically still a paid for thing. I know quite a few kids playing in it, and it’s a higher level than your average grass roots but still not particularly difficult to get into…

‘It's just a way of getting the kids and parents all excited so they can go around bragging that their playing for an academy’

It’s really not just football though. Gymnastics, swimming, cricket and in and in, even dance… Friend’s kid is a talented dancer and the money they have spent on extra ‘elite’ classes, programmes, travel, shows…
One of mine is a theatre kid - and goes to paid classes. And gets parts in shows which = more classes/rehearsals which = more money and then we have to buy tickets to the final show itself… he’s been asked to joint the ‘advanced’ theatre grp = more money for that extra class…

My son plays for our local non-league team's under 7 team. They are a completely grassroots team but do have the benefit of nice facilities and all weather pitches. He plays against all the local teams as part of a league (as all grassroots teams do) and a fair few do call themselves "Academy" or "Elite" etc.

One in particular springs to mind because they are rumoured to charge £1k a year, which is significantly more than most teams. The parents (only dads tbf) refused to stand outside the fences that surround the pitch when requested, and the coaches were going on pitch and moving their boys into position for free kicks etc. It didn't go down well, but at that price I guess parents want to see results, so they do what they have to. It didn't look much fun though.

Before my son started, as I knew nothing about the game, I read 'No Hunger in Paradise' by Michael Calvin about how (genuinely) elite football picks up kids, gives them a dream and spits most of them out. It was eye opening.

It's a money making scheme and gives kids false hope - although most of these 'academies' do have connections to Pro Clubs so if your child is genuinely talented they may get an opportunity to trial at a Pro Academy. My son was signed at the age of 9 to a League 1 Pro academy and we've never had to pay a penny - although it requires huge commitment from the child and parents as they train at least 3 evenings per week and play a match most weekends which can be hours away. He is 15 now and was given an (early) scholarship at the age of 13 so he will go to the club full time when he is 16 and live in digs. At this point they also get paid similar to a YTS training scheme. It's a tough road and he has had to make lots of sacrifices - he is the only one of the original U9s that is still there - and there are no guarantees. Our job as parents is to prepare them for that and make sure that they have a Plan B. Its also at this age that agents come sniffing around - its all about money and so many parents get carried away unfortunately !

My nephew attended a premier league London club junior team but they (my brother and Sil) did not pay anything. He was/is an amazing player, miles better than the best players in the school. He was invited to carry on but they wanted him to be academic so he didn't bother as the time commitment is too much. My brother played for a London premier junior team as a teenager in the very late 80s so maybe it runs in the family.

I read an article about a charity set up by Trent Alexander-Arnold to support ex- academy players that didn’t make the grade. It’s called after the Academy. About 99% of boys that join academies age 9 (proper ones linked with football clubs) don’t make it to professional level. It was really eye opening, they keep a squad of players basically to support the best player/s. So for example there’s a squad of 20 players but the academy know maybe 1 or 2 will make it, the other boys are kept on to make up the numbers so there is a team to play in. They’re then dropped at age 17 or 18 when they’ve been doing school part time not been able to socialise with their friends and have dedicated their life to football. They don’t have great careers prospects.

My dc isnt into football. She competes regionaly in one sport, but will never compete beyond that level. She does about 6 hours a week - so a LOT - at 11 yo.
But surely ALL "normal level" childrens sports & activities are either run by businesses (so you have to pay a lot) or volunteers (so you have to pay a bit but also help out).
If the business is offering more hours and dc want more hours (and parents can pay!)... and the hours are halfway reasonable (eg 5 hours a week not 50 hours a week!), then Im not sure why its such a bad thing.
Obviously having dc impacing their education, social life, family life & parents jobs when theyre just "making up the numbers" is awful.

Interesting the previous comments on the age when children are picked up for true academies in football. I was listening to a Ross Tucker podcast about the pathway into rugby at county and country level. The programmes need to allow children to come through at later and different ages as children mature at different rates. I assume this is due to children generally coming to rugby later than football plus rugby requires, particularly in front row positions, a specific build. Ross also had a lot on how to develop children and it’s focusing on developing skills and tactics etc and winning or losing can be incidental to these.

My oldest son knows 2/3 children with the potential to compete or play at county and country level as adults in sports other than football. All the parents are really level headed about the reality of achieving this, the likelihood of making it plus risk of injury etc. they are supportive and have driven them for training and all over the country for matches, competitions etc but ensure their children have a balance with other parts of their life including friends and school. Even with that support there is a lot of pressure on those children on the elite pathways re training, health, etc.

Rugby is an interesting comparison BridasShieldWall, I’ve assumed the later timings of it was around the physical maturity of players. I’ll look for the podcast

Rugby is very different from football though they don't start playing with proper rules ie pushing in the scrum, lifting for line outs etc until U15s+.

The majority of Dd's team came to rugby after trying it during PE at secondary school, or the ones that have been at it from a younger age had older siblings or parents that were involved. Football seems like more of a sport anyone would enrol into regardless of family history or other connection.

I think the potentially huge financial rewards for top football players, and even the more modest rewards at a relatively junior level, provide a much greater incentive for parents to be focused on pushing their children to do well at the expense of the fun side, especially the boys, than is the case for other sports.

Sadly, those rewards are only for a tiny percentage of players and as PPs have said, the rest are discarded, often at a stage where it is hard to move into other fields.

My 8 year old is in the academy and he’s only one of two kids from his school. We now know lots of other parents as we all seem to move in the same footballing circles. The trials for academy are quite savage and I’m sure my other 2 footballing sons wouldn’t make it through.

If you have to pay, then it’s not an ‘Academy’ and there’s nothing ‘elite’ about it. The only real academies are those where kids get scouted by a professional club and everything is provided free by the club.

I find there is a massive difference between the behaviour and attitude of coaches and parents at a professional academy and those that charge (but are just a bit better standard than your usual grassroots, as the coaches just cherry pick some of the better than average players).

My lad is a referee and has done games at Premier League Academies and he is treated with huge respect from the coaches and the parents are absolutely not allowed to shout instructions to their kids or shout at the referee.

Grassroots and definitely JPL are totally different, especially JPL. It’s so toxic and full of people who think their kids are the next Foden or Saka because they pay £50 a month for them play for a fake Academy. I stopped my lad reffing in the JPL it was that bad. Plenty of times I had to report abusive coaches and parents.

It’s strange because he now referees adult football and even when he was only 16 and reffing 22 hairy-arsed blokes, it was still better than the JPL and so called Academies. No parents to deal with and there may have been lots of swearing on the pitch, but at the end if was usually hand shakes all round and a ‘well done ref’.

If your kids are around age 6-8 it’s absolute hell getting through football because of all the knobs convinced their kids are the next Harry Kane. Academies go for quantity at this age - the majority don’t make it through the 8 week taster course (but by that time their parents have put it all over Facebook that their kid will be a pro footballer). Academies have no way of knowing (apart from the few exceptional kids) what sort of footballer a kid who is 7 will be when they are 16. The academy system for kids is a brutal game - which is why it’s banned below low teens in many progressive European countries. And less than 1% of academy kids will play ANY level of pro football. Just ride it out, it’s bullshit.

Don’t agree with the comments about Junior Premier League though. In my area this isn’t an academy but an actual league that the teams play in. All sorts of teams play in it (usually quite good ones and some lower level professional academies too) - my son plays in the JPL league. The coaches for the team he plays for actively discourage the sort of behaviour discussed on here and also don’t agree with pro-academy signings for anyone under 12. Parents get marked for their behaviour at every game, and sportsmanship and turning up for training on time is more important than winning.

My son also plays grassroots Sunday stuff and that’s where I’ve seen the worst behaviour TBH, from the kids and the parents.

My husband runs an academy team and he says it’s nothing like it used to be.. however the academy team he runs is an actual known one that people do work their backsides off to be selected by but he says there’s so many ‘Mickey mouse teams’ about now calling themselves academies

So for example there’s a squad of 20 players but the academy know maybe 1 or 2 will make it, the other boys are kept on to make up the numbers so there is a team to play in

DH has always said this. It's sad that they discard teens when they're about to do GCSE exams & have missed out socially. We're lucky we never got beyond U9s with it all.

I am not from the uk so not at all sure how it works and my eldest is not into football. My youngest is though and we have been approached twice by a 'scout' for him to trial (at a 'proper' club, again not sure what it is called). My ds coach was really disappointed when I said no, not interested. My ds is tiny, early primary and young for his year. He loves football more than anything in the world. But thats the thing, he loves it because he plays with his classmates. He loves it for the friendships. He loves it as it makes him feel good about himself. He is really good and so I guess it is nice for him to feel like that. I can't help but think that sitting in traffic for hours several times a week to play under really intense pressure will kill his love and joy pretty fast. But what do I know? Perhaps I should 'encourage' it. Perhaps I am letting him down?

I just can't bear the thought of being in such a competitive environment.

This is what my dh says. It happened to him when he was young.

I understand that the JPL is a league and not an academy. My son spent a season refereeing across U14-16 in the JPL. It was set up to try and bridge the gap between grassroots and professional academies. However it does, unfortunately attract a lot of the clubs who call themselves academy or elite. They usually are better standard teams because the coaches cherry pick the better players.

In my experience it was definitely worse than the normal grassroots leagues/teams for toxic coaches and parents who ‘brag’ that their kid plays for an (fake) academy.