Caveat emptor is a phrase that many would know, if not in latin but in english, it translates to buyer beware. Meaning that the onus is on the buyer to research the quality of products and services they are purchasing.
Whereas it used to only apply to retail outlets, or more specifically car and insurance salesmen, it is now becoming a very important phrase in sport.
As sports administrators have been busy telling us that sport is now a business, many still rely on Government hand-outs to stay afloat, and many ex players and opportunists have seen and seized upon an opportunity to make money privately. They have either set themselves up as private coaches or have opened what they like to call “Academies.”
This is now becoming more prevalent across a number of sports, but without doubt the front-runner would still be football, the world game.
In fact we have seen overseas professional clubs become involved in academies around the world. Some are the real deal. They are genuinely there to help raise the standards, but are there in the hope that if a young talent rears its head they will be able to recoup on that investment. Others are a complete sham.
For some it has been an expensive experiment. Southampton FC lined up with what was then ECU Joondalup a club that was thanks to its junior coaches producing a conveyor belt of talent. Unfortunately it did not work out as expected and they lost a fortune and withdrew. As for the conveyor belt of talent, that slowed as the FFA – as it was then – determined that the said coaches who had been so successful had to obtain the new coach accreditation. They opted not to. Who can blame them, they had shown over at least 20 years that they knew what they were doing and were successful.
As discussed previously it would have been prudent for the sport’s governing body to set up an accreditation scheme for these academies. It would also be good for the various other sports to do the same. Yet many put this in the “too hard” basket.Those who are legitimately there to improve the ability and enjoyment of the game for young players would no doubt have been willing to sign up to such a program, the perceived problem when discussed with one sport, would be monitoring that the academy in question maintained those standards. Really?
So with the sports administrations, the bodies that will tell you that they are responsible for all facets of the game unwilling to give accreditation to the legitimate operators, the onus falls on the parents of the children who wish to enrol their children to become better players.
While many will do a background check on a private academic tutor, few do similar checks when it comes to sports coaching. The unscrupulous prey on that fact.
Today it is very easy to check whether the coaches have in fact done what they profess. For example there is one website on which a coach claims to have been part of a Premier League club’s academy. When one checks you discover that the club never had an academy at the time that he would have been there. There are so many examples where a quick check will confirm whether the coach played for the teams that they claim.
Then there are the academies themselves, are they really linked to the clubs that they say they are? Do they really have their backing? Again a quick call to the club itself will soon confirm whether that is the case.
A big question regarding these set-ups linked to professional clubs is should they be charging the parents money? If they are hoping to unearth a player that they will ultimately sign and they will then sell, is it right that they charge parents for that child to be able to showcase what they can do? What happened to the good old scouting network where they went out and identified players and invited them to come and show what they could do?
If one of these players happens to be signed will the club refund the parents the money they have paid?
Again it is worth asking how the academy is set up and how does it work.
Celtic used to have a link to in Perth with Football Tech. This was a coaching program that ran during the school holidays. Yes, there was a fee for those who attended but importantly it was disclosed that this was to cover the flights and accommodation of the coaches flying out to run the camp. It also covered the hire of the facilities and meals and refreshments, as well as kit for those who attended. This particular program also had Celtic legend Paul McStay involved, a man who was very conscious of everything being above board, especially if he was going to have his name linked to it. At the end of this camp the coaches would select one player to fly to Scotland all expenses paid to train with the Celtic Youth, and have a chance to impress and earn themselves an opportunity to win a contract.
The crucial thing to remember is if you are paying for your child to attend a trial in Europe, it is not a trial. If a club is truly interested in a child’s talent they will pay for them to attend training at their club.
So it may be worth checking whether the academy that claims it is linked to a big name club is in fact licensed by that club to operate under their name, especially in each state. Ask at the time of signing up if your child shows promise will they be flown over for a trial or will they have to pay?
Of course not all academies are about trying to feed players into the professional game. Some are simply about making the youngsters better players and better individuals. If they happen to go on and make it as a professional that is a bonus.
A good example of this is Pro Football Training. Mark Lee who set up Pro Football Training with Barry Wood had plenty of experience coaching children and helping them learn to love the game after being part of GloryZone, a community program that was linked to Perth Glory, and then at Football West. They have other coaches involved in the program all with various levels of experience internationally and locally.
While Pro Football Training takes its players on a tour of the UK this is never promoted as a trial. The youths have the opportunity to play against professional clubs youth academies and gauge for themselves where they are at in terms of their own development. This also helps make those aspiring to turn professional realise the standards that they need to attain. The tour is also is an ideal opportunity to put these young players in “the shop window” of the clubs. While not being a trial, if a player shows ability the chances are that the clubs will then invite them to trial or will monitor their progress in the coming months.
Of course one of the big issues with promising trials is whether the children are in fact eligible to sign for the clubs they are going to. FIFA has some very strict regulations that must be complied with in order to protect the children. Many parents are oblivious to these regulations, but they will have a big bearing on the ultimate outcome.
There are plenty of people looking to make money off the back of the rise in interest in football in Australia. They will make money, as many of the parents are not aware how things work.So should the state bodies and the FA be helping parents negotiate this space?
The best questions to ask are why are you signing your child up for this extra training? Is it to make them a better player? Is it to try and help them make a career from the game? Or is it simply a form of babysitting? Don’t laugh, there are many parents who sign up their children purely for that reason.
When it comes to making a career out of the game is the coach honest with you as to how unlikely that is? Or will they give you a whole load of patter where they imply your child has a great chance of making it, without every truly committing?
The fact is of those who have been selected to play organised youth football in England, via the youth structures attached to professional clubs, which equates to 1.5million boys, only 180 will play in the Premier League. That is a success rate of 0.012 per cent. Which highlights just how hard it will be for a youth player from Australia to break through.
As one coach stated many are better off looking at the A-League and establishing themselves there, or looking to Asia rather than Europe. However, once again there are restrictions when it comes to playing in Asia, so you need to be across those.
At the end of the day it really is a minefield for parents to negotiate their way through, especially those who are new to the game. That is why one feels that a system was needed to regulate these academies and verify that they meet certain requirements. It would have been wise to have set this up when the FA encouraged so many to become licensed coaches, but unfortunately the horse has bolted now, and there are too many for Football Australia to keep tabs on. As mentioned, some are serving an important need while others are simply cashing in on an opportunity.
