Life as an Academy Footballer
Top UK football academies are investing millions in developing homegrown talent. Hoping to challenge their European competitors, more than 12,500 youngsters attend vigorous training programs with the dream of becoming the next Jude Bellingham.
Teddy S-S, Harley G and Sebi W are current young prospects playing in some of England’s best academies. Although confident in their abilities, they reflected on some of the negatives and positives they have faced so far in their promising careers. Teddy is currently signed with Spurs, Harley with QPR and Sebi with Watford.
The boys recall what brought them to the academy. They all got scouted when they had faced their current teams in a tournament or match.
The next step in Academy football is the trial. and the boys were asked to look back on how that went for them, and whether they felt pressured to perform. Sebi felt overwhelmed by the number of boys there, but was mostly confident in his ability. In contrast, Teddy was incredibly confident and performed how he usually would which is exactly what the coaches were looking for. Harley also felt nervous at first, but in time, he was playing to the best of his ability.
Academy life can be extremely busy. Harley’s week is made up of five days of football. He has training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and has matches or tournaments on Saturday and Sunday. Teddy, however, has a different balance, with training four times a week (Monday to Thursday). Tuesdays are dedicated to strength and conditioning; matches are on Sunday and there is the occasional tour to other European countries. By contrast, Sebi trains only on Monday and Tuesday, with matches on Thursday and Saturday.
Rumour has it that clubs are strict on nutrition. Sebbi’s professional coaches do not control his eating, but he eats well anyway and claims he is disciplined. Teddy has nutrition classes at Spurs and follows the guides that the coaches provide. He added that whilst he is at the ground he is given protein balls and other foods to boost his energy levels. Harley sheepishly says that he is not recommended food and admits, whilst suppressing giggles, that he does not have the best diet and occasionally eats what he likes.
It would seem that the academies encourage a friendly environment but friendships are often put aside to focus on personal goals and performance.
Even though they are too young to understand the high stakes of their situation, Sebi vents about how he sometimes allows the pressure to get to his head. Whereas Teddy and Harley have full confidence all the time and appear oblivious to the pressure.
Does the stress to make the cut for tournaments and matches ever get to them? Teddy and Sebi confess that they do need to be in the line-up and there is sometimes pressure to perform well. Teddy mentions that it is not just down to your performances on the pitch but also how you behave off it.
When asked to recall their favourite memory playing academy football, all were unanimous in recalling match-play situations. Harley remembers an acrobatic clearance off the line, whilst Sebi scored three and got an assist, helping his team come from behind. Teddy’s, however, was scoring in the Netherlands and Italy against European giants Ajax and AC Milan.
These boys really are living the dream!
Reported by Theo W and Laszlo B