If you take all the kids who pass through clubs football academies it’s a lot less than 1% who make it, more like 0.1%
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But what if he started playing for example, rugby and was really enjoying it. Would you pull him out of rugby to say something else?
My son always gravitated towards football, possibly cos it was always on the TV in my house so it was a natural progression.
I do make sure he can swim, ride a bike, play table tennis, go out with his mate etc but time is restricted by the amount of football he plays.
The same was the case with my other lad and rugby. If he gravitated to one sport it is natural that he would play that more.
It's the close season now and I've told him not to play football for a few weeks but he takes his ball everywhere he goes.
If you take all the kids who pass through clubs football academies it’s a lot less than 1% who make it, more like 0.1%
I would encourage him to play in any sports that he naturally gravitates to. If he walks through the door and says i want to try x (i look for a local x club).
At the moment i'm staying away from development centers and football club branded events in favor of local clubs.
There is a time for specialising in sports i dont believe U7s is that time.
You see so many people on here saying that this messageboard has gone to the dogs these days, but I would like to thank those with more knowledge on the subject than me whose contributions have made this such an informative and interesting thread .
Reading it, I find myself thinking back to my youth when I was in one of the first years in school that did not have to take the eleven plus , an exam which could have a profound impact on how the rest of your life would turn out.
Back in the 60s, there was a political debate as to whether eleven was too young an age to be taking what might be a life defining exam and I only missed out on doing so because a party that believed it was had been elected to replace one that believed it wasn't. My own feeling has always been that it is much too young an age to give children, and their parents, the task of undertaking something which might define their whole life.
Perhaps my beliefs are out of touch with how the modern day ten year old and their young parents think and they would embrace and accept the challenge of such an important task to undertake before they are even a teenager, but I can't help thinking that it has to be dangerous for any child to, possibly, be thinking of themselves as a failure at the age of eleven, so it has to follow that this probably applies even more so when that child is eight.
According to this report from 2017
https://www.businessinsider.com/mich...rt-2017-6?IR=T
it's 0.5% of all youngsters who get taken on by Academies from the age of 9 that go on to make a living from the game. Also, only 180 of the 1.5m lads playing organised youth football at any one time will make it as a Premier League pro - 0.012%.
The meteorite comparison doesn't work (the odds there are around 1 in 1.6 million) but they are still interesting stats. Surely the answer for Academies is to employ Wales-Bales as a talent spotter, the success rating would then go to 100% immediately.
I coach kids football and in my opinion (and the other coaches I work with) the answer is no. Sure you'll get kids who score more at that age etc but its almost always the bigger, stronger ones, you don't see any real difference between them in football ability until they're a couple of years older
Oh its definitely true at that age, the physical difference can be huge but the actual technical ability is roughly the same
As a result the older, stronger boys are picked up only to be spat back out of the system in a few years time
I know its purely anecdotal evidence but a few boys in my year at school were at academies from a young age, none of them are still at pro clubs and I think the only one still in football is in the reserves at Barry. Another boy wasn't at an academy until he was in his teens and was named in the most recent Wales U21 squad and has been linked with moves abroad
Anecdotal I know, but it does strengthen my belief that picking up kids at 7 isn't worth it/a good policy
But, have any of them been spotted by “WALES BALES”
Whilst that it is true it is definitely addressed in recent years
I think the smaller kids have Barcelona to thank for clubs looking for more technical players.
There is also the issue of how the European and international tournaments are run. The ages aren't selected in line with our school system but its selected on year of birth (January - December)
From what I've witnessed, many of the kids who are the better players at 8 or 9 have remained the better players at 14 or 15 (though there are exceptions).
I think keeping it FUN is paramount for children u14.
If you lose the fun factor then you'll inevitably lose the kid.
Listened to Undr the Cosh, and they were talking about an u11 drill, with cones and poles etc of a current PL manager. He wouldn't say but he's clearly old school. He said, "when you were 11 what did you want to do? Drop your bag and run to the park and play. While I'm here, I never want to see a session like that again. All they should be doing is playing games and making decisions for themselves". I've got to say, I don't disagree. Although small sided games where you get more touches wouldn't be a bad thing! I played out wide and really disliked it when I was younger as I wouldn't get the ball, and I wanted to get wide and put crosses in so if I came in that, I couldn't do that!