The Messi Truth; You’re Not Making it to the Big League

Soccer academies manipulate players with the prize of success. With grueling hours and exclusivity, the results are rarely successful.

Players are sold a dream that they’re never going to achieve. Those players who may never be good enough still cling to the hope of one day touching the lights and grass surrounded by thousands of screaming supporters.

Then, players find out that their dream is near impossible. Their hopes are too far to reach, yet top soccer academies convince them that it’s a fingertip away. Players are constantly fighting with hundreds of people for very available spots, all while laboring to their physical limits, trying to go professional.

Linda Flanagan, a journalist for The Atlantic and Wall Street Journal who has investigated and written about the world of competitive youth sports, describes balancing school life as a task that’s basically impossible for young athletes. The teams give players almost no free time for social lives or family obligations, with kids breaking down due to their intense schedules.

(Ronit Chhibber / The Jaguardian)

Youth players train at Lincoln Middle School.

Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world, has just recently published their academy schedule. The European giant has revealed that they have hundreds of teenagers at the academy, ranging from 13 to 19 years old, who are working roughly three days of the week, from 8 AM to 3:30 PM, with absolutely no academic courses available to them until after 3:30.

When compared to other academies, Manchester United seems to be taking it easy on their youth. Robin Russel, the Football Development Consultant of UEFA (Union of European Football Association), compiled data on training times and games played for youth academies. Through his findings, he discovered that one of Brazil’s most successful teams, São Paulo, has their youth academy players train for more than 7,000 hours of consistent, intense workouts before they hit their nineteenth birthday– an equivalent of seven years worth of California schooling. This data did not count the 40 games played per season, which would add about 90 extra hours for every year at the academy. São Paulo is just like many others, with the world’s best academies employing similar training times and schedules for their youth players, who still have to balance family, school, and their mental health.

Such schedules add a significant amount of mental and physical stress, as already depressed and exhausted players have to attend school as well. Many student-players simply don’t have the time to complete assignments and study for tests. Oftentimes, they find themselves falling behind or failing classes to chase a dream that they will likely never have.

“Honestly, it depends on how the kid is wired. These organizations can’t do a lot to change it because it’s how they were raised. If they can handle the pressure- which a very, very tiny amount can, they still have to work through the night and don’t have any time to themselves,” Flanagan said.

Academies under UEFA’s umbrella are only required to have one member on their safeguarding staff. This person is responsible for hundreds of children who are often mentally tired and physically drained. There is a waitlist, often days long, to receive support, and UEFA has not made any noticeable progress to changing such academy requirements. Oftentimes, clubs will completely disregard these regulations as UEFA does not have an official punishment for reneging on these responsibilities. As a result of lax enforcement, these “requirements” have become more like recommendations.

Flanagan describes the mental stress similar to a mental breakdown: kids will fall asleep in classes, fail to solve the tiniest problems, become anxious, start crying, develop eating disorders, and dozens of other issues that come from trying to balance academies and school. The club prioritizes individual physical growth to help their business rather than help prepare teens for their future because, after all, the club is a business and their academies are made to mold future money-making players.

Yet, despite all the work youth soccer players put in, a single injury can ruin their career. A hamstring tear or ACL rupture, two extremely common injuries in the sports world, can ruin dreams they worked so hard to achieve. Injuries are only the smallest issue though, the English Football Association reports that only about 10% receive a professional contract from the clubs they have been working with for years. The remaining 90% of players are kicked out of the club and have to come to terms with the fact that they will have spent years chasing a dream no longer exists. These thousands of players have slowly degraded their potential careers over the near-decade spent at academies before decision time comes, while clubs offer no financial compensation or any sort of help, and just kick them out of the front door.

Oftentimes, the players kicked off of their clubs at a young age will go through mental and psychological stress trying to return to their traditional lives. Academies leave them stranded, with many players dropping out of high school and canceling college paths to attend an academy which has now left them behind.

Flanagan mentions clubs and organizations as being elitist, and that the clubs acknowledge and play into their exclusivity. Often, wealthy parents who want their kids to go professional will (publicly) pay for a tryout pass to join the club. These kids think they’re gaming the system and are going to go professional, but in reality, they have the same chance as everybody else, they just paid the extra thousands of dollars to gain entrance to the club. Flanagan also mentions that some minor academies that claim to be focused on just having fun can also be elitist.

For the few players who overcome the emotional and physical toll of academies and continue to excel at the sport, the chance to play professionally can still be fraught with challenges. Going professional doesn’t mean going professional; oftentimes, people who go to the next level never find themselves a permanent spot in the league. Players are often “loaned” out to other clubs in divisions two or three levels below their respective leagues.

According to The Mirror, Chelsea, the most recent UEFA Champions League winner, has a “loan system” with 15 players promised to be playing professionally, only to be loaned to other teams for up to three years. They still have careers ahead of them, but Chelsea constantly renews these players’ loan deals, so that they are contractually stuck to loaned clubs for the duration of their professional career. These players are powerless and are forced to move to places such as Turkey, Croatia, and Spain, often finding themselves taking on second jobs to support their struggling “professional” careers .

Even in the professional leagues, clubs often adjust their rosters to different players, leaving previously loaned athletes unsure of their future. Clubs who want their own contractually obligated player removed from these rosters (which happens extremely frequently), force players to leave by either not playing them in games or just outright sending them home when they show up to training. Contracted players are obligated to show up and do whatever clubs ask, with contractual clauses that fine athletes up to multiple months worth of their salaries for on and off-field infractions.

With less than one in ten youth players going professional, it’s hard to justify even attempting to play professionally. For those youth players who don’t know about the risks, clubs promise a future of success that seems tangible to those desperate enough to try anything to succeed.