Cardiff Academy or Swansea Academy

My little lad is 5 years old (almost 6) and was recently scouted at a football festival by Swansea. They asked if he would like to attend their pre academy for a couple of training sessions. Despite the obvious reasons for not wanting to go I thought it would be a good opportunity for Thomas so I took him down. They train at a place called 'play football' which is similar to Gol in Cardiff. To be fair it was a very good set up and we were made to feel very welcome. To my surprise I wasn't the only Cardiff fan down there as there were quite a few kids from Cardiff, barry, Caerphilly etc.

Roll on a couple of weeks and I was contacted by his local team saying that Cardiff adc have asked if he would like to train with them. It would appear that they found out he was training with Swansea and wanted to have a look at him.

We have been to one adc session which was good, plenty of little games going on and again we were well looked after.

At the moment neither Swansea or Cardiff have really said if they want him to continue. It's all very relaxed and casual and they are both keen for him to carry on attending. Speaking to a few parents I will eventually be called in for a chat and either formally be asked to train on a regular basis or told he is not wanted.

At his age it's just for fun and I'm not getting carried away with the attention. At the moment as long as he enjoys it I'm happy to attend either.

The question is I can't really keep up going to both and sooner or later I will have to choose. As much as it pains me to say on initial impressions Swansea appears more professional but I'm new to all this so would appreciate some guidance.

Cardiff would of course be a lot easier but the feedback I've had from other parents is that Swansea is the better option.

Any thoughts?

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Originally Posted by THE DON

My little lad is 5 years old (almost 6) and was recently scouted at a football festival by Swansea. They asked if he would like to attend their pre academy for a couple of training sessions. Despite the obvious reasons for not wanting to go I thought it would be a good opportunity for Thomas so I took him down. They train at a place called 'play football' which is similar to Gol in Cardiff. To be fair it was a very good set up and we were made to feel very welcome. To my surprise I wasn't the only Cardiff fan down there as there were quite a few kids from Cardiff, barry, Caerphilly etc.

Roll on a couple of weeks and I was contacted by his local team saying that Cardiff adc have asked if he would like to train with them. It would appear that they found out he was training with Swansea and wanted to have a look at him.

We have been to one adc session which was good, plenty of little games going on and again we were well looked after.

At the moment neither Swansea or Cardiff have really said if they want him to continue. It's all very relaxed and casual and they are both keen for him to carry on attending. Speaking to a few parents I will eventually be called in for a chat and either formally be asked to train on a regular basis or told he is not wanted.

At his age it's just for fun and I'm not getting carried away with the attention. At the moment as long as he enjoys it I'm happy to attend either.

The question is I can't really keep up going to both and sooner or later I will have to choose. As much as it pains me to say on initial impressions Swansea appears more professional but I'm new to all this so would appreciate some guidance.

Cardiff would of course be a lot easier but the feedback I've had from other parents is that Swansea is the better option.

Any thoughts?

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Its a bit of a non-problem at the moment as you haven't really been asked to stay on at either. You may have the case where neither ask you to continue, or only one ask then you just go with the one that happens.

Personally i would go with the will of the child, he will be in the system and it will be more of a benefit to him if he enjoys it. I always recommend to players that local is sometimes a bit better because it is easier to get together with the friends you make at training, and thus enjoy the experience more. Its always a bit more difficult being an outsider.

At the end of the day less than 1% of the players will make it at professional level so you have to make it as much about enjoyment as the football.

You should be asking your lad, not us.

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Originally Posted by BLUETIT

You should be asking your lad, not us.

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Agree with this, if he is good enough to be in an academy it will matter more when he is 10+.

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Originally Posted by qccfc

Its a bit of a non-problem at the moment as you haven't really been asked to stay on at either. You may have the case where neither ask you to continue, or only one ask then you just go with the one that happens.

Personally i would go with the will of the child, he will be in the system and it will be more of a benefit to him if he enjoys it. I always recommend to players that local is sometimes a bit better because it is easier to get together with the friends you make at training, and thus enjoy the experience more. Its always a bit more difficult being an outsider.

At the end of the day less than 1% of the players will make it at professional level so you have to make it as much about enjoyment as the football.

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Good advice!

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Originally Posted by BLUETIT

You should be asking your lad, not us.

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All advice is good and it may just be that someone on here has put their child through one if not both of the academies and is able to offer some inside knowledge about the pros & cons of each set up.

Let's be honest - a 5 year old might make the choice based on something as simple as he prefers the look of one kit over the other.

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Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five

All advice is good and it may just be that someone on here has put their child through one if not both of the academies and is able to offer some inside knowledge about the pros & cons of each set up.

Let's be honest - a 5 year old might make the choice based on something as simple as he prefers the look of one kit over the other.

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And (NSASWA), that's why it should be the childs choice.

So they are happy and contented

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Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five

All advice is good and it may just be that someone on here has put their child through one if not both of the academies and is able to offer some inside knowledge about the pros & cons of each set up.

Let's be honest - a 5 year old might make the choice based on something as simple as he prefers the look of one kit over the other.

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Thanks, couldn't have put it better myself.

I'm just interested in people's opinions of the two academy's.

My five year old can't decide what to have for breakfast most mornings let alone which academy he should join. For the record he enjoys all his football and just wants to play, he really does not have a preference. From a parents point of view it would be interesting if anyone has some personal experience of either set up, good or bad.

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Originally Posted by THE DON

Thanks, couldn't have put it better myself.

I'm just interested in people's opinions of the two academy's.

My five year old can't decide what to have for breakfast most mornings let alone which academy he should join. For the record he enjoys all his football and just wants to play, he really does not have a preference. From a parents point of view it would be interesting if anyone has some personal experience of either set up, good or bad.

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There are two widely differing philosophies at Cardiff and Swansea at present.

Swansea are running with the philosophy which Cardiff adopted til about a year ago, which is all based on 1v1 domination, very little passing and letting the kids find their own way. They will play on smaller pitches generally.

About a year ago Cardiff changed to a more Continental approach where game understanding and pass and move philosophy is very much the emphasis. They will generally play on bigger pitches and look to move the ball.

I hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by BLUETIT

You should be asking your lad, not us.

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I disagree. He's five, most five year olds don't know what day it is. It should be the parents decision. He's doing the right thing by asking advice from people that may have experience of the local academy system.

For what it's worth, I'm wary about these academies. From talking to parents whose kids have been involved with both pro clubs and the private academies like PG10, there does seem to be a bit of a scattergun approach as far as the very young kids are concerned. They know that many parents can be flattered and excited about the idea of their child training with a professional club, who wouldn't be. So they invite loads of kids, sometimes expecting the parents to fork out for expensive training gear etc. A cynic might say it's a way of generating a bit of revenue and hoping to get the 1 in 100 that might be good enough to take on.
Having said all that, if you and your son enjoy it and get something out of the experience then the very best of luck to you.

p.s surely it has to be the Bluebirds!

Swansea play the numbers game, build kids and parents hopes up, then dump them.
Cardiff are a little more selective, but both are guilty of stringing "stuffers" along ( I.e. above average players, who will probably never be a pro), to produce one decent player in the group.
Neither have done anything of note recently.

If it is possible to keep both of them going at the moment (different days i assume) then i would continue you that for the immediate future till you can gage the interest from either one in their interest on your boy continuing.

Be very careful.
From what I've heard
A lot of 'academies' are no more than soccer schools which you end up paying your kid to go to.

If either comes back to you then there may be a choice to be made, but at 5 he should just be having fun with his mates and as near to home as possible.

Ridiculous that clubs are even approaching kids at this age imho

Less than 1% make it through? Is that right....shocking

My son`s friend has been with Bristol rovers since he was 10 he has now signed his first year professional contract. It`s a very long arduous road but some have to make it.
Good luck to your lad but if it was me i could and would not let him pull on the white shites kit.

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Originally Posted by goats

Less than 1% make it through? Is that right....shocking

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less than 1% go onto to be pro footballers, would say that sounds about right, same for any elite sport

My niece's boy has been with Middlesbrough's academy for a few years now, he's 15, every year is a nail biter when he & his parents are called in. He does seem to have got over this obstacle now as he's been out injured for nigh on a year yet they've been great with him, so that bodes well. He's had the same dilemma though, he & my niece's husband are huge Sunderland fans,both season ticket holders at the Stadium of Light, no contest who they want to win when the senior sides meet. He's 10 years older than your lad so perhaps he's had the schooling within the game inasmuch as you don't necessarily have to support the club that your with, treat it as a job (yes, they do get a few bob & sessions and stay overs at St George's Park etc). His old man does wish that the Mackems had picked him up for reasons of the heart and nearness of Sunderland to 'Boro home wise. If I were you I'd let your lad go down west, let them spend a shed load on his development, keep the City in the loop, and piss off up here when you can in later years, I'm sure thats what my North East family are hoping will happen😂😂😂

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Originally Posted by Lawnmower

Be very careful.
From what I've heard
A lot of 'academies' are no more than soccer schools which you end up paying your kid to go to.

If either comes back to you then there may be a choice to be made, but at 5 he should just be having fun with his mates and as near to home as possible.

Ridiculous that clubs are even approaching kids at this age imho

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Whilst I can see where you're coming from, children who are asked to the pre academy of both clubs won't have to pay a penny, it is different in the development or adc squads though.

I depends on the kid I suppose. If he has a passion for the game then I believe it can be a good thing. Would the kid rather play against Mountain Ash or Man City?

The role of the parents are crucial for any kid that decides to pursue that road. You are there to take the pressure off not to increase it.

I would rather my lad play football at as good a standard as he possibly can than sit in the house on an Xbox all winter.

When i take my daughter to bath uni's Sports training Village for Netball, i noticed a office with the " Southampton FC " badge on the door, i didnt think much of it the first few weeks, then one day A guy from England rugby asked to sit at my table, we got chatting and he said the STV was used by England rugby for training , loads of team GB and Southampton academy, Oh i said, i enjoy my football, got to be better than watching 2 hours of netball i joked, so i ask him where the pitches are, he points me in the right direction, bloody hell, must have been 300 kids playing, i guess that night was for players under about 10 years old, as they looked 10 and under, I dont know if the one at Bath STV is a big center or not for them , it really did surprise me

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Originally Posted by blue matt

When i take my daughter to bath uni's Sports training Village for Netball, i noticed a office with the " Southampton FC " badge on the door, i didnt think much of it the first few weeks, then one day A guy from England rugby asked to sit at my table, we got chatting and he said the STV was used by England rugby for training , loads of team GB and Southampton academy, Oh i said, i enjoy my football, got to be better than watching 2 hours of netball i joked, so i ask him where the pitches are, he points me in the right direction, bloody hell, must have been 300 kids playing, i guess that night was for players under about 10 years old, as they looked 10 and under, I dont know if the one at Bath STV is a big center or not for them , it really did surprise me

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That's where Gareth Bale used to travel to when he started with Southampton.

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Originally Posted by blue matt

When i take my daughter to bath uni's Sports training Village for Netball, i noticed a office with the " Southampton FC " badge on the door, i didnt think much of it the first few weeks, then one day A guy from England rugby asked to sit at my table, we got chatting and he said the STV was used by England rugby for training , loads of team GB and Southampton academy, Oh i said, i enjoy my football, got to be better than watching 2 hours of netball i joked, so i ask him where the pitches are, he points me in the right direction, bloody hell, must have been 300 kids playing, i guess that night was for players under about 10 years old, as they looked 10 and under, I dont know if the one at Bath STV is a big center or not for them , it really did surprise me

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Yes mate they have one academy in Southampton but a sister academy in Bath so they can get the best players all across the south

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Originally Posted by BLUETIT

You should be asking your lad, not us.

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:thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Lawnmower

Be very careful.
From what I've heard
A lot of 'academies' are no more than soccer schools which you end up paying your kid to go to.

If either comes back to you then there may be a choice to be made, but at 5 he should just be having fun with his mates and as near to home as possible.

Ridiculous that clubs are even approaching kids at this age imho

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I can’t speak for Swansea’s set up,but that is exactly what Cardiff’s ADC is.It IS part of the pathway to the academy, but honestly there is a massive gap between the two.How do I know this?,I coached at the Vale ADC for 4 years until last year when I questioned what I,and more importantly,the kids were getting out of it.At best,for the majority it is extra coaching,with admittedly the better footballers within their age group.There aren’t many that make it through to the academy, and I believe that this season after yet another shake up in the organisation, the majority are run on a franchise basis.

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Originally Posted by Bruce Foxton

I can’t speak for Swansea’s set up,but that is exactly what Cardiff’s ADC is.It IS part of the pathway to the academy, but honestly there is a massive gap between the two.How do I know this?,I coached at the Vale ADC for 4 years until last year when I questioned what I,and more importantly,the kids were getting out of it.At best,for the majority it is extra coaching,with admittedly the better footballers within their age group.There aren’t many that make it through to the academy, and I believe that this season after yet another shake up in the organisation, the majority are run on a franchise basis.

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Swansea is even worse at the moment. They took every kid from my local club and some of them can't even kick a ball.

They are doing what Cardiff done 10 years ago and raking in every kid that exist for a of £60 for a couple of months

If you love your son, you'd never let him pull on Swansea shirt.

Football academy’s are a bigger pile of bollox than X factor.

Let’s invite every kid from the age of 5 up to attend our academy so we don’t miss out on the next Gareth Bale.

Whatever happened to playing in a local team with a bunch of team mates, winning trophies, or just winning a game to some lags, but it gives you a purpose, and you make friends for life.!?!

All that has been lost to supplement the 0.0000001% who make a career out of the game.

Local Junior football is dying on its arse but hey the Cardiff City academy is thriving with gullible parents paying stupid money for kit and travel expenses in the deluded hope their child is “speciall“

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

Local Junior football is dying on its arse but hey the Cardiff City academy is thriving with gullible parents paying stupid money for kit and travel expenses in the deluded hope their child is “speciall“

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I personally think local football is actually thriving and there more kids playing football than there has been for years. I coach Ely Rangers under 7 and last Saturday we had over 30 kids turn up. Some of our older age groups actually have waiting lists to join and this is a Common theme replicated throughout Cardiff. There are so many opportunities for kids these days it is quite amazing. In Cardiff we have fantastic facilities for grass roots football which are available to everyone. Every Saturday we train in the new house of sport bubble in Leckwith and it really is fantastic. We have kids coming as young as 4 years old and we can play in any weather as the 3g pitch is under cover. When I was a kid (many moons ago) I couldn’t play football until I was 8 or 9 years old. We had to play on full size pitches and games were always called off as the pitches were bogging. Nowadays as much of the football is played on 3g hardly any games are called off.

I agree that academies and ADC’s take in a lot of players but most parents these days are realistic enough to know the chances of their boy or girl becoming pro is miniscule. The way I see it is that my little lad is getting good coaching and he’s enjoying it. The reason I asked about the two academies in the first place is because at the moment he is attending both Cardiff and Swansea and at some point I’ll need to make a choice between the two because I cant keep them both up. Since I started the thread both clubs have asked him to stay on and for the short term I’m happy to attend both but eventually something's got to give. As this is kids football I’m not really interested in the whole Cardiff Swansea thing, he’s 5 years old and just loves football.

Well firstly good luck to your lad.

Secondly, surely at five years old it is way too young to assess their potential? If I were you I'd ask him which he had the most fun at, and go with that. He's far too young to evaluate which is more professional, and if he's that talented then I would imagine that either one of them would be good for his development.

Also consider that by the time he's old enough to sign professional terms, the jacks will be back in league one.

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Originally Posted by TH63

Well firstly good luck to your lad.

Secondly, surely at five years old it is way too young to assess their potential? If I were you I'd ask him which he had the most fun at, and go with that. He's far too young to evaluate which is more professional, and if he's that talented then I would imagine that either one of them would be good for his development.

Also consider that by the time he's old enough to sign professional terms, the jacks will be back in league one.

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Haha!

The jacks fleeting affair with the top flight will no doubt end one day!

You are right, It is amazing that they are assessing kids at his age. That said some of the youngsters I've seen over the past few weeks are incredible. Whether they will stay like that is questionable but some of these kids are so skilful, it's amazing to see.

Ultimately we will be led by him. He will go where he has made friends and enjoys it the most. Whatever happens it's all good experience.

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Originally Posted by THE DON

Haha!

The jacks fleeting affair with the top flight will no doubt end one day!

You are right, It is amazing that they are assessing kids at his age. That said some of the youngsters I've seen over the past few weeks are incredible. Whether they will stay like that is questionable but some of these kids are so skilful, it's amazing to see.

Ultimately we will be led by him. He will go where he has made friends and enjoys it the most. Whatever happens it's all good experience.

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Neither is my honest assessment. Academy football generally does more harm than good to kids. It's not coincidence that the quality of players in Britain has deteriorated post academy as opposed to the Lilleshall days

For years Swansea have hoovered up all local talent and the vast majority do not make it.they raise the hopes of the kids parents so be aware they are not really interested in your feelings its a business and its dog eat dog.
if one kid out of scores makes it to the youth team they have done their job.SWansea had Robert Earnshaw at youth level he went to the wrong ground at his first match and they ditched him.He went Cardiff and the rest is history.

first of all it's a great experience for any kid to be part of any football league academy , COE or development centre but has been mentioned less than 1 per cent actually make a pro footballer these days . if any kid makes academy level at around13/14 that's when it comes serious and the business side comes into it . it can then be a bit tricky when a player gets rejected at that age . my advice would be take him to cardiff if it's closer for you . at 5/6 is far too young anyway to really matter . I do wonder where the future of elite athletes / footballers is going tho . I notice Gordon Strachan raised a few eye brows regarding the genetics of the Scotland squad but he is right !! elite athletes are now almost 6 foot plus robots . and with rugby it's even worse . can't imagine what top level sport is going to be like in 10 years time

the only player I can think of when I saw very young at 9 years old is emyr huws that's actually made it when he was playing for Swansea city COE against us . was a fantastic player at that age knew he would make a pro even then