Are European Football Academies Good or Bad?

An alternative to intensive youth academies for aspiring young athletes to gain experience is soccer camps. In soccers camps, kids still can live a completely normal life. The kids gain international knowledge, while not devoting their lives to the sports. In most camps, the kids spend minimal time (1-3 months) playing  soccer. Money goes into travel for teams. Although time is spent traveling to their destinations, it is much less than the international farming systems. The tunnel is not so narrow. The child has a more broad opportunity to have a life after soccer. This also allows the kids to not have to dedicate their life to the sport so young. They have time to evaluate if soccer is their life, and aren't going to run the risk of burning out before they fully develop their talents, or appreciation for the game. - Bryce & Joe

       Soccer is a game of love. Soccer is a game of passion. People play the game of soccer to be apart of something bigger. Soccer is game which stretches across generations, cultures, and genders. For such a beloved sport, youth should be taught to appreciate the game for the values it embodies, and the character it builds. BUT for the youth academy system in the United States, monetary incentives are pushing clubs to train their kids for different motives. Negative Externalities of a Winning Mindset For the elite youth clubs, winning is everything. When deciding on a club, parents of prospective talent don't have any other metrics to compare with, so all they know is the balance on the scorecard. More importantly, winning international tournaments pays out well for the club and the coaches. This creates a positive feedback loop. As top clubs continually get the winning players, they get the winning teams. This motivation for winning causes coaches t...

Does money has an influence on a kid’s opportunity to be picked up by elite European Clubs?           It’s not uncommon for families to have to alter their lives, careers, and families to adjust to the lifestyle that’s required from academies such as La Masia. Is it easier for the financially stable to invest into this life change? Very few of the young recruits even make it to the second team, and a many get cut before 18. With parents knowing this Do they see their child becoming the next Christiano Ronaldo? OR do they just want their kid to get the experience? Families may have a hard time re-rooting after leaving everything to follow their kid on their quest to be the very best.                    Thousands of hours logged on the pitch, and years of their adolescence dedicated to a single sport. Football. The years spent at the academies fundamentally alters their chil...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/06/football-biggest-issue-boys-rejected-academies This article not only goes into educational flaws within the european football academy systems but also the mental issues surrounding the players who are members or former members of footballing academies. The author of the article, David Conn identifies issues such as pressure to succeed, travel, lack of education, and lack of nurturing as contributing factors to these (ex)players psychological duress. These mental strains have led to devastating consequences for youth footballers who have grown up in the academy system. In March of 2013, a player who was released from his club's academy program committed suicide at the age of 16. The article is titled "football's biggest issue" but this topic seems to rarely reach headlines in the footballing world.  Why do you think "football's biggest issue" is rarely talked about?  What can football clubs and a...