I believe it is time that all sports start to have a really good look at the plethora of “Academies” that are starting to appear.

Whilst I was working in one of the Regional Sport Trusts in NZ I started to come across “Academies” that were charging individuals an exorbitant amount of money to be part of the academy. Everyone understands that coaches need to be reimbursed for their time, fields need to hired, equipment needs to be purchased and resources need to be created to allow any “business” to be successful.

But should this be paid for by the “elite” or “high performing” players?

Our players, in all sports, are now seen to be “income” for the business models. If an individual who is within a club elects to take up additional learning opportunities to be part of a training group and is charged then that is an accepted part of gaining better opportunities to develop. The player has paid his club fees and will be coached and play in a team that is appropriate for his talent and ability regardless whether they pay anymore money than already shelled out.

When an “elite” academy, which only wishes to have the very best players and is prepared to actively encourage them to attend their academy, start to charge players large sums of money then we have an issue. They want the players and are prepared to say just about anything to get that young player to sign on the dotted line. The young player signs and then may spend as much as $2,500 a year, plus travel costs if a tour is in the calendar year. If a player comes into their environment at age 12 and leaves at age 17 they have contributed $15,000 to the running costs with absolutely no guarantee that they will play even beyond a first XI school level. In which other endeavour in life would an individual outlay that type of money with absolutely nothing to show for it apart from some athletic skills that may or may not be at a level that will generate a return.

If the $2,500 p.a. was to walk out the door and affect the bottom line of the business would any business take the brave move to inform the player that they are no longer a part of the set-up. Losing a player means these academies must fill that space regardless of talent or belief that the player is going to be a “special” player. It also means that as part of the academy ethos they need to belittle or insult other coaches and development opportunities as they are in a competitive business environment. They have to drive themselves to the top and continue to grow their numbers without answering to anyone in regards to the development of our best young athletes.

Many academies or talent development institutions around the world do not charge the best players to be part of their set-up. They extend an invitation, sell their development model and if accepted by the player start to build a relationship with the players in regards to their development. This model allows the coaches to be far more robust in their feedback and be honest in regards to continuing the players development. Players who are deemed not good enough are “let go” and they have the opportunity to continue to develop in another environment.

The scariest comment I ever heard was offered on my UEFA A coaching licence. An academy manager, as part of the conversation, said “we really just have 19 players working daily so we can produce the 20th into a professional player for the club”. The players are just there to produce a single player as he/she needs someone to train and play against. At least the 19 players aren’t being charged for the privilege of producing someone else.

Many parents will say that they feel they have no choice as the player needs to be developed and this is the best place to do that. What absolute nonsense. The development of the player is reliant on the individual player and their attitude to their development. It must align to the simple facts of development and all things being equal:

• Coaching must be of the correct level for the individual
• Competition against the best players
• Character of the individual and the growth mindset
• Environment

Environment is an interesting one as how many of our “best” players who are within these academies will ever learn how to orchestra and move a team around the field when their team is going backwards or being beaten by a significantly better team.

Goalkeepers need to be playing in defensively poor teams to learn how to win games for their teams. Defenders need to be continually exposed to clever movement and skills of strikers without a safety net, midfielders need to learn how to run the game and be continually in motion to maintain possession. All players need to be exposed to the simple fact that when you play against better teams you need to have the ability to assess possible dangers and nullify them. This just doesn’t happen when all the best kids are in a team together. They are infrequently challenged defensively and when they are they don’t need to form great defending habits due to the ease at which they can regain possession.

Personally I would rather see players staying within their own clubs and environments and learning the game and all it entails than paying “academies” a huge amount of money for the pleasure of playing football which they can play for just about free at any local ground.

As shared with me the other day by a respected coach

“I guarantee that no player who is in these academies in NZ will be a professional player that can retire at the age of 35 and never have to work again.”

The numbers are very very few who are successful to a professional level and the dream will always be there, but the ones who are successful I believe would have been successful without all the  claimed ownership and “input” from the academies. The best players will always find a way to be successful and they have all needed “luck” to achieve success.

I will leave you with this that Declan Edge, who has done a magnificent job, in assisting Ryan Thomas to become a professional footballer , worked daily with him and if my memory serves me right didn’t get paid a cent to do it.