Football academy / sports scholarship

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I am posting for my DSis. She has Year 4 son who is being asked join a football academy. In fact several academies are interested. She is a single parent and would like to use the football academy to help her gain a sport or similar scholarship to an independent school. He is exceptionally gifted in sport but only plays football due to the dedication required. Does anyone know how or if she could use this as a platform for a scholarship? We don't have any experience in independent schooling. But she lives in a deprived area of London so schooling is a priority. Thanks for any advice.

First thing would probably be to check the requirements of her local independent schools - for example Eltham College (SE London) looks for District/County level in at least 2 sports (this maybe out of date as it was a couple of your ago).

Talk to the schools - they want to take scholarship pupils and so are as helpful as possible.

Good luck to both of them

What is the most important thing - education or sport?
Try reading this recent thread for some personal experiences.

Thanks for sharing the link. This is all very new so any information appreciated.

You'll need to check out the requirements of any local schools in which she may be interested. Although a school will want talented performers as their scholars, they will also be expected to represent the school in all fixtures for their sport. This may have implications for the club to which he is attached, as the fixtures will undoubtedly clash as times - if not every weekend? A lot of private schools also have rugby and hockey as their main boys sports, so you would need to find one where football is a main activity, as a school will usually want scholars with a talent for sports that they play the majority of their fixtures in.

If he is this good at one sport he may well be as good, if not more talented, at others given the chance. The problem with sports scholarships is while schools love the kudos of pupils playing at high level they also require them to play for their own first teams , causing conflict between training and matches not to mention the physical toll it can take on developing bodies. Also excellence in one sport does not a sports scholar make.

To add to LIZS' post most independent schools offer sports scholarships. however these are only usually worth about 10-15% of the fees. They are often dependent on the recipient being able to represent the school in a selected sport. However, my friend's son is in a football academy and is not allowed to play for his school team (in case he gets injured or something). Not sure if this applies to all academies but worth enquiring about.

Also many independents don't play football at seniors. Charterhouse are one of the exceptions.

There are schools out there that will offer a scholarship to an academy boy, eg Whitgift in Croydon. A number of the boys at the school are academy players, eg, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Arsenal and other London clubs. A school like that is well used to helping the boys balance their various footballing commitments and academic work. I'd say investigate local independent schools to your sister and give them a call. Those schools usually have a bursary pot of cash for fees too, so a deserving case, may end up with 100% of fees paid. Also contact the academies, they will have links with good schools too.
best of luck