Are the Promoted Pathways in Fact A Road to Nowhere?

Every child has dreams.

That is how it should be. Growing up our children should believe that they can achieve those dreams. They should be encouraged to chase them, for who knows what is possible.

At what age though must those dreams be shelved? At what age is it right to tell them that what they may have dreamt was possible is realistically not going to happen?

Many years ago there were three classmates in a school all around 15 years of age who were sent to see the schools careers advisor. One by one they went in to see this man who was supposedly going to steer them down the right path to a lucrative career, or successful employment. When each went in he asked them what they wanted to be. The first said a professional golfer, the second a jockey, and the third a professional cricketer. By the time the third child entered the advisor was exasperated. Once again he launched into a speech about how unlikely this was, and that the individual concerned like those before him should consider a “proper” career.

The second did become a national hunt jockey, now known as jump racing, for a short period of time. The third played Minor Counties cricket, while the first became a professional golfer, and is still engaged in the sport today. Clearly they did not abandon their dreams and some would say fulfilled them.

All three had a passion for their chosen sport, and all three loved participating in those sports.

Today the system in many sports is killing not only enjoyment, but also the dreams of our youth. The dreaded “pathway” to the top is doing more to stop people playing sport and enjoying it, than the numbers it prepares for a life in professional sport.

One thing that no one wants to talk about is the depression, mental health or attempted and successful suicides in sport as a result of these so called “pathways.” This is a subject that appears to be taboo. Yet it is a growing problem.

When you hear that a 12 year old that has been cut from a youth program attached to a professional sporting club has had to enter mental health care due to suicidal thoughts there is a problem. Twelve years old! They have not yet entered their teens, and they feel that their life is over because their dream has been shattered. A dream that was no doubt nurtured by the club itself and those within the sport, who tell these young players if they are going to make it to be a professional they have to be a part of this program.

Sadly, part of what they say is true. Coaches have become so lazy that many only select from this group of players when choosing players for the next age group. In the past few weeks there was one sport in which there was an advertisement asking players who felt they should be in a State under 18 team to submit for a trial. What is the head coach doing?

Surely the head coach and their assistants should be going around watching local club matches as well as school matches and identifying the talent that they want in that side? It should not be left to individuals to apply for such an honour.

As has been made very clear in the England with all of their football academies, which reportedly equates to 1.5 million boys playing organised youth football, only 180 will make it to the Premier League. A success rate of 0.012per cent.

In England once again the powers that be are ignoring the problems many of these young players are facing once they are spat out of the system. There are now many organisations that are trying to mend the lives of those who the system has destroyed. Ironically while football generates so much money these organisations are fighting for money to repair the lives the sport has played a part in hopefully only momentarily shattering.

The problem is that many are told for so long that this is the “pathway” to success. They are told what they have to do and where they have to play to make it to the top. Of course it isn’t quite as simple as that. Not all of them will make it to the top. In fact very few of them will. Everyone reaches a peak, and some individual’s best is not good enough to make it to the next level.

Sadly, many of these young talented players walk away from the sport once they are no longer part of that “pathway.” Why? If you ask them, many will tell you that they stopped enjoying playing.

A dressing room in a team sport can be a very lonely and intimidating place. It is often not a place where everyone can be themselves. You need to be a strong character to stick to being yourself. There was a Test cricketer who would sit in the dressing room reading the bible. Not a common occurrence. He was ribbed about it. However, he was strong enough to continue to do so. Not many are.

There is a lot of bravado in such an environment. Competition is great, the person next to you is after your place in the team. That is why in many professional sports today there are not many great friendships between players, unlike those established lower down the leagues.

Trust is a word rarely used in top flight sport. The coach often doesn’t trust those who employ him, and in time will not trust certain players to do what he wants them to do. Players have no idea who they can trust. Can they trust the coach? Can they share some vulnerability with the coach? Can they trust their team mates? With young players it is therefore no surprise that many feel incredibly insecure.

To show vulnerability is often branded as being mentally weak, and if you are mentally weak so the story goes, you will never make it.

What is becoming apparent in many sports is the reason that players have been chosen to be a part of a program is soon forgotten. Players that played with a joie de vivre and who had learned to improvise are forced into a more structured style of play, and that improvisation is in many cases banned. Surely a player’s ability to do the unexpected should be encouraged within a structure?

Necessity, a lack of money, has seen the A-League forced to show more faith in their young academy players. As a result more have broken through in recent years to play in the top league. Yet how many are being allowed to play their natural game. How many have had to adapt to succeed?

If fans are expected to pay their hard-earned cash to watch live, or even on pay-per-view sport they want to be entertained. Yet those moments of magic from special individuals these days are few and far between. Only the very special players are given permission to back themselves. What is sad from a spectator perspective is that many of these young players that have developed these skills are not used to a structured environment, that is not where they learned the ability to improvise. By making them ignore that developed skill must be like taking away a part of them. Few will complain as they still hold onto the dream, and will do whatever the coach says it takes, but surely there has to be some leeway and also better communication as to when to try such things and when not to?.

There has been a huge influx of African migrants to Australia in the past 20 years. Many of these families have spent time in refugee camps before arriving.. The children have played football in the camps, but these are often similar to the games of yesteryear in parks where it would be 20 a side. Or even like the game “world Cup” where everyone was pitted against each other against one goalkeeper. If you scored your were through to the next round. The last player not to score was eliminated. Such games helped develop players.

Imagine a talented African player being invited into an elite environment after having developed their game in such a way. Many have never had the basics of any system explained to them let alone teh various formation, or their role in the position they are given. Then there is the issue of language. English may not be their first language so do they understand what they are being asked to do? Even if they don’t many will not have the courage to say so.

If many of these players in the system were in a school and the standard of their academic work started to drop, their teachers would start investigating what was happening in their life to cause this. How many coaches do the same when a player starts to underperform, or is late to training?

Which comes back to the system itself. Is it really working? How many of these players are discarded because they did not do what they were asked, or they still choose to back themselves to get out of a situation, because that was the environment in which they learned to play? Old habits are hard to break. Surely we are losing players who can change a game, players with innate skill in favour of automatons who simply follow instructions.

Which begs the question is it the system or the people within the system?

Many of these coaches need to understand each player individually, where they come from and their sporting and personal background. They cannot simply take a one-size-fits-all approach. Such an investment will undoubtedly have far better outcomes. Coaching is about understanding that each individual is different and blending those differences which can ultimately be advantageous in a team. It is accepting that everyone is different no matter their ability, that each player is driven by a different motivation. There needs to be more understanding which in turn will lead to trust and support and most important of all there has to be honesty.

If there is all of that, then most players will know before they are cut that it is likely to happen. They will also know why it has happened, and what they need to do to change and keep that dream alive.

However, in many of these “development pathways” players are with a coach only for one or two years so there may not be anough time to get to know each other and build trust. This is why the systems where a coach moves up with an age group are often the more successful. However, this system still has its pitfalls.

Another key issue with the “pathway” system is that you are witnessing players of a similar age training and playing together. It is at times a false environment.

There are many who have stated that the best system is to have these players playing for local clubs and having seperate specialist elite training. While playing at a club can be intimidating as a young player, it is a place where many can thrive. Where a young player can learn the lessons above by being part of a team of players from all different backgrounds, ages, and experience. Sometimes it is far easier to fit into that environment than one in which you are surrounded by players of the same age all pushing to make it to the next level.

The club scene tends to be a more realistic environment. For there will be players who have been at the next level, and they can share advice and warn of the pitfalls. Club sport will also give a player a far better insight as to where they sit in terms of their own ability. For many of the “pathway” sides rotate players simply to give everyone a game. In a club environment you have to earn your spot. If you manage to hang onto it you know that you are improving.

Being a part of a club also benefits you greatly in terms of understanding what it takes to put a team on the park each week. Having spoken to players who have been a part of “the system” they have said that they would prefer to play for a club as there is “more enjoyment.” It is a fact that not everyone is fortunate to find a job that they enjoy, but if you do it makes a huge difference in so many ways. So if you are going to be playing a sport you love, if you can enjoy it then the chances are you are going to perform better.

It is important that coaches remember that when some of these players came to their attention the thing that made them stand out was not only their talent but that most of them were loving playing. Are they still enjoying playing?

Being a part of a club as opposed to a team that is part of a “pathway” is in itself being part of a community. If you fulfil your dreams and rise to a higher level, in most cases that club will share in your success. They will follow your career, come and watch you play, as they feel a part of that success. They will be proud of their association, and being a part of your career.

If you opt to leave the club for one higher in the league, a better coach, or as is often the case more money. There will be different emotions depending on the reason for the move. If it is with the aim of prolonging or furthering that dream then few will be upset, most will understand. In a “Pathway” side do you have that ability to leave and work with a coach who may be better in helping you develop as a player? Many once they leave this ‘road to success’ as it is promoted, are then discarded. They have left the system, “the pathway.” It was their choice, they clearly don’t want it enough. However, that may in fact be the reason why they left they do really want it!

The biggest myth is that these “pathways” are the key to success. If they are going to sell dreams and make such promises there has to be more honesty. It is one thing to build a player’s confidence, it is quite another to make them believe that they are going to make it as a professional. Clearly from the actions following many young players being dropped from these pathways it is as if all of their dreams have been destroyed. That is not the way it should be.

There has to be honesty. One player who was encouraged to go for trials overseas, yet who was extremely unlikely to ever reach the grade returned and walked away from the game completely saying it had “made a fool of” him. It wasn’t the game, it was his coach. He should never have gone. He wasn’t good enough and was not prepared for what he was walking into. Yet the coach allegedly felt it was worth it ‘on the off chance’ someone saw something in him. That is not good enough.

Some sports have become like many institutions, they have become insular, closed off. So much so that the governance is no longer transparent, yet there is this holier than thou attitude at the top. Like many other institutions they do not take criticism well and are slow to react to unwelcome incidents. Hence the refusal to accept that damage is being caused to many by the current systems in place. Is sport really teaching our children the best lessons in life? If sport is an analogy for life then maybe it is understandable they feel like they do after the way some have been treated.

Sport has the ability to transform lives, However, in today’s world this will only happen if coaches are educated on more than just sport. If, as many sports claim, it will teach leadership and discipline, and improve interpersonal skills, the various sports need to invest time in ensuring that their sport does actually teach these young players these skills, which will benefit them later in life. Actions speak louder than words. If we are just hoping that playing the game is going to magically give a child these attributes we are kidding ourselves. There has to be more accountability and responsibility.

Someone has to take responsibility and ensure that as good as some of these coaches are technically that they have the relevant people skills to guide these young players. Also maybe there is a duty of care once a player is cut that those who cut them must try and monitor their well-being?

If you are developing players you have to get to know them better. Understand what makes them tick. How they handle disappointment and success. Each will be different, and as a coach it is your responsibility to understand that and adjust. Adjust and become someone they can trust. With that trust comes a responsibility, a responsibility to tell them the truth about their game. What is good, what is bad, and their realistic chances of making it at a higher level. This is vital if we are to prevent all of these young players feeling that their life is not worth living once the dream is over.

Everyone can have dreams. Some may be more realistic than others. Sadly, in sport only a very small percentage get to achieve their dreams, so it is vital that some dreams are given perspective. As Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton put it, “As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we’ve been given.”

If a young player takes their talent to their own limit they can be proud. Not everyone will play at the highest level, but it is still an acivement to play at the highest level you are capable of.