Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Soccer Academy Offer: Accept or Refuse

13 replies

Clarita12345 · 07/04/2015 08:06

Hi there
My son 15 got an offer from the soccer Academy in Edgware www.soccerchanceacademy.com
But I am not sure whether my son should accept the offer or not. My worry is to remove him from the Grammar School he goes to and regret it afterwards. My son would like to become a lawyer and study in USA. The football Academy website does say that they have opportunities for players to get scholarship to universities in The US but I am not sure and worried to take such a Turn in my sons education & future although we wouldn't want him to miss this probably life chance...!!! Please help .

OP posts:
senua · 07/04/2015 09:35

Law is very competitive, you need excellent academic grades to get into it. That means things like academic A Levels. The Soccer Chance Academy only seems to do NVQs and BTecs. So this doesn't seem a good idea from the academic angle.
It is very nice that your DS got an offer from the Academy but I'm sure that, by his age, if he was of the necessary standard then he would have been scouted by a Premiership side by now. Don't be fooled by flattery. So this doesn't seem a good idea from the sporting angle either.

Keep him at the Grammar and get further advice from MN about A Level choices.

PotteringAlong · 07/04/2015 09:38

At 15 if he was going to make it as a professional footballer he would have been snapped up long before now. Stick to the grammar school!

Coconutty · 07/04/2015 09:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bigTillyMint · 07/04/2015 09:46

Never heard of it! Does your son play for a Sunday League team? If so, scouts come down and they get scouted for the academies if they are good enough. They go initially on trial and then may get kept on and sign a contract. This is still happening at 14/15, Pottering!

There are a fair few boys in DD's year (Y11) who are getting offers from the big teams (Premiership and down) to sign contracts with them, so they will train/study and be paid. But obviously these boys are very good and have been playing for years, usually for big clubs already.

From a quick look at the website, this place looks like it's set up as an alternative to doing A'levels. And maybe you have to pay them? I doubt it would lead to them getting scouted for a big team, but they might learn about coaching, etc?

senua · 07/04/2015 09:47

A BBC article from 2011.

Does this Academy cost you money to attend?Hmm Does the Grammar?

TheFirstOfHerName · 07/04/2015 09:48

From the website:

The Academy scholars will study one of the following courses depending on GCSE grades:
•NVQ Level 2 and 3 In Supporting the Delivery of Physical Education and School Sport
•BTEC Level 3 In Sport and Performance.
•English language courses for Internationals who require them

I don't know of any law courses that would accept this for their entry requirements. He would have a better chance with A-levels in facilitating subjects.

YonicScrewdriver · 07/04/2015 09:51

If he wants to be a lawyer, why does he want to go to a football academy?

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 07/04/2015 09:51

Is he already training with the youth squads of one of the big teams?

He will not get into a law degree at a good university with the sort of courses the Soccer Chance academy are offering (I am a lawyer). Without a law degree (or a good degree in another academic subject and a conversion course) from a good university your chances of getting started in a career in law are reduced.

LIZS · 07/04/2015 09:53

Sounds similar to a l3 college course dn is hoping to do, promising professional kit and coaching with a FA coaching certificate. I'm with pp who suggest youngsters who play several times a week would have had the opportunity to be talent spotted for youth clubs well before this age. Ask for their track record in attaining professional contracts. He can still play at local level while studying law , if that is what he wants.

Heels99 · 07/04/2015 09:57

Refuse.
The scholarships to the usa are sports scholarships not law scholarships, ask them how many of their people have gone on to study law either in UK or usa unlikely to be any because they are not studying a levels.
There are a couple of people at a local sports club near me, not football, who have got sports scholarships to usa universities, but they still did a levels a well as their sport. Stay at the grammar.

Cantdecideondinner · 07/04/2015 11:27

Stay at the grammar - if he was premiership material in all likelihood he would have already been picked up by a big club, we've friends with children of 8/9 who have been scouted by the big clubs, usually a man with a dog, during Sunday league games.

TheWordFactory · 07/04/2015 12:39

Clubs run their own academies.

From there, a few boys/girls will be given a contract.

Original poster
Clarita12345 · 07/04/2015 14:02

Thank you all so much for your Advice. My son is indecisive as well. He is aware of the lower level of studies he will be taking, so Grammar school would definitely be best. X

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page