By Adam (@pochemuchkaproductions)
Earlier today in Copenhagen, the Danish Football Association (the “DBU”) reportedly denied an exploratory enquiry by FC Barcelona, into the establishment of a FC Barcelona Football Academy for players aged 6-16.
The rationale according to the DBU, is that they forbid international clubs for starting football academies for children as young as 6 years old, as it clashes with the fundamentals and ethics for the development of players in Denmark (as per the curriculum and coaching programs taught and setup by the DBU).
This curriculum at this age in Denmark is not focused on the development of fundamentals, training, and skill development, but is about teaching the kids to love the game and enjoy playing it. This is a mentality that is starting to be forgotten within our sport, and personally, I believe it is one of the worst things that could happen to Football.
It is no secret that Barcelona has one of the strongest youth programs in the world of club football, highlighted by “La Masia”, their training centre which has brought such players like Puyol, Fabregas, Iniesta, Xavi, and will bring out many more players as the years progress. But over the past few seasons, Barcelona has been getting into trouble for some of their dealings in regards to youth players.
They have established these academies all over the world, which aim to find and train the best talent in the world in the “Barcelona Way” of playing Football. As you can see on the map, they have found their way nearly to every single point on our planet, and in all of these places are actively training young players.
I’m all for youth development. As you saw in my previous article about Manchester City, I am a huge proponent of it. But I’m also a proponent of ensuring that kids understand that loving and enjoying the game comes first.
With having academies that start training children as young as 6 years old, I don’t see it being possible to properly instill such love and enjoyment in an academy setting. An academy setting essentially is a competition to filter out the best players. What benefit is there to expose a 6 year old to a setting where he or she is become subject to judgment, “he/she isn’t good enough…” and feelings and motivations that they are still too young to understand? We have heard the horror stories of parents bringing their children to academy trials in England, and the stories of players who even though they had the skills to play at the top, never understood to enjoy playing and fell out of love and away from the sport. That’s not what we need at all.
Whether we like it or not (and I don’t like it), Football is now big-business. And to stay on top, you have to recruit. But its also the ONLY “big-business” where you can groom children from a very early age to become part of the business. You can’t see people immediately training their kids to be doctors and lawyers at age 6. So why are we trying to do this to them with Football?
It’s stupid. I can understand at around age 10 or 11, but at 6? I’m sorry, I will never understand this.
Why would you sacrifice the ability for a child to learn to love our beautiful game, in exchange for the hope that they may become a star? It’s not about becoming a star, its about enjoying and loving the game of Football that we all love.
So, I applaud Denmark on standing firm on its morals. Thank you. If more nations and FA’s thought this way, I think our Beautiful Game would be more beautiful than it is now…because there would be a new generation that would actually love the game itself, and not love the notion of becoming a star.
The Glorious Nation of Soccerstan 