Youth Academies in England's Premiership

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Came across this in the coaching forum. It is by the Georgia Youth Soccer Association, the same YSA who did the video comparing youth development in Brazil to that of the US: http://www.streamingsportsnet.com/gasoccer.html

Interesting article if you have the time: http://www.gasoccer.com/Files/672/docum ... NGLAND.pdf

Here's a few parts I thought pertinent as a result of those questioning the MPS philosophy as compared to MAPLE clubs.

The academies start at U-9 and teams are formed in one year increments all the way through U-16 and then into a two year group of U-17/U-18 players. The soccer year is from September to August, to coincide with the school year. Clubs can sign up to 30 players in each age group, but most sign 12-16 players per group. Players are signed for one year at a time until U-12, making it a one year commitment from both sides. At the end of each year, the club decides which players to retain and who to release. Players are free to leave the club at the end of the year, even if the club wants to keep them, but if they go to another club, the new club must pay the old club a transfer fee to compensate for the time and effort invested into the player.

At the U-13 age group, clubs can sign players for either a two year period or a four year period. This longer term commitment is good for the players, but in turn, protects the club from losing the player for the next four years. At U-15, again the clubs sign players for a two year period unless they are already on a four-year deal. At U-17, the players who are good enough leave school to sign on a two year apprenticeship, where they start earning a living as full-time professionals. After the two year apprenticeship, at U-19, players are either signed on a normal professional contract or released.

The success of an academy program is measured by the number of players they produce for the first team. This is definitely a long term perspective, in stark contrast to how success is measured here by our youth clubs. In England, academy teams don’t have to win games, just produce players. The focus is on developing top players by the time they
turn twenty, whereas here, the focus is much shorter term since youth coaches are on a race to develop winning teams to win State Cup at U-13.

In England, game results at the academy games are not important. In fact, academy games in England are all friendly games, just like our U-10/U-12 ‘Academy’ games, except that in England the games are friendly all the way to U-16. The Premiership academy teams play only against other Premier Team’s academies, so there are no promotion-relegations to worry about. There are no standings and no championships until the U-17/U-18 bracket. Since promotion-relegation is based on the results of the
professional team, the youth team’s destiny is out of their control and they can just focus on development and let the professional players worry about results.

Academy teams play 8v8 from U-9 to U-11 and play 11v11 from U-12 onwards. The games are split into either four quarters or three thirds, to allow the coaches to bring the players in for instruction or adjustments. The philosophy of many of the academy coaches is to let the players make their own decisions in the game, and use the intervals for any instruction. They especially refrain from coaching the player on the ball and limit coaching from the sidelines for off-the-ball positioning or team shape and even that is done sparingly.

Academy players are not allowed to play more than 30 games per year. This cap on games was implemented to prevent player burn-out, which was a real problem in England prior to the academy system, and is a huge problem in our youth game. Once a player signs for an academy, his playing time is monitored and recorded to make sure he gets
sufficient playing time without exceeding the maximum number of games. Academy players are not allowed to play for another youth team and most academies do not allow their players to play even for the school team. The player’s annual schedule is closely supervised to maintain the optimum balance between development and recovery.

Furthermore, when a player signs up with an Academy, he is guaranteed to play at least 24 games per year. This mandatory playing time is applicable to all the academy teams at all the academy ages. It’s quite a paradox when profit driven, multi-million dollar clubs operating in the cut-throat business of the professional game treat their youth players with such sensitivity while some of our own youth coaches fail to do the same, even though most of our youth clubs are supposed to be community based, non-profit, volunteer run organizations.

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This BBC Radio broadcast provides more info on the subject. The first 6 or 7 minutes includes a description of the Manchester United Youth Academy system, the next 7 or 8 minutes is more on the English youth system.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainfram ... h_football

Another interesting passage from the article:

According to Steve Heighway, the Liverpool Academy Director, anytime a player is released, his club helps him find another team at a lower level of the pro game. Parents get a progress report twice a year from the coaching staff, and the player’s school gets a copy of the report as well. The coaching staff works with the schools to monitor the players’ academic progress. The academies are very much in tune with the needs and welfare of young players and do their best to look after them. All academies must employ not just fully qualified coaches, but also medical staff and educational and welfare officers who look after the off-the-field needs and education of the players. Parents are kept informed via progress reports and periodic communications, but they are not allowed to get involved in the same way parents are involved in the USA. In
England’s academies, parents are prohibited from coaching from the sidelines and are generally kept at bay. During training, parents are not allowed near the fields and are usually confined to the club lounge or behind field barriers, where they can watch the session from afar, or relax and socialize. Some academies, such as the West Ham academy, ask parents to sign a Code of Conduct that outlines the dos and don’ts.

Steve Heighway emphasized in his presentations that the academy coaching staff goes to great pains educating the parents on the relatively low rate of academy graduates who actually become professional players. Steve stresses how competitive it is, and that parents have to prepare their son emotionally and practically for the possibility of getting released by the club. According to Steve Heighway, one of the toughest parts of the job is managing parent’s expectations and releasing players and shattering their dreams. The players in Liverpool’s academy are all technically strong, so the ones who do make it are those with the right mental strength and character that can deal with the stresses and the ups and downs.