Professional soccer players are getting younger and younger and it is causing problems.
Even before they are old enough to drive, budding soccer players are pinpointed as future stars. Before they are old enough to graduate high school, aspiring soccer players have agents. And before they are old enough to have a job, promising soccer players are fast-tracked on the road to superstardom. However, it is on this road where young soccer players face their biggest obstacles; adulation, fame and fortune. They are given too much, too soon.
Young soccer players have lost touch with reality. Historically, young professionals had to earn their stripes by doing menial chores such as cleaning the locker rooms, cleaning the older players’ cleats and, sometimes, painting the goalposts. It was irrelevant how talented players were, they had to pay their dues before even getting a chance at the pros.
The chores instilled discipline into the players. Young players in that era understood hard work, it was a privilege and an honor to be carrying out those tasks. To make the first team was like the Holy Grail. Nowadays, young professionals have replaced their paintbrushes and brooms with Bentleys and blondes.
Soccer is the world’s big-gest sport and it has become big business over the last twenty years. The money that circulates within the game is incredible and young soccer players are reaping the benefits.
Everybody is vying for a slice of the financial pie. In order to get that slice of pie, teams need to perform on the field and in order to perform on the field, teams need the best players. Soccer teams are always looking for the next best thing — the next superkid. Soccer teams always need young players.
In this modern era, if a young soccer player has what it takes to perform on the big stage, they are thrusted into the limelight. Soccer clubs need quick results and large profits. If a young soccer player has the ingredients, the organization gains a bigger slice of the pie. In return budding young stars are showered with the kind of luxuries previously exclusive to seasoned professionals and movie stars. With a barrage of riches at their disposal young players appear to have everything they could ever need ― this is where problems start.
The lifestyle afforded young soccer players is attractive. Young players suddenly have the world at their finger tips, but they lose all sense of reality. They seem to forget their humble beginnings and start to believe in their own hype. They suddenly believe they are the center of the universe.
Soccer players, especially in Europe, have become A-list celebrities and multi-millionaires which is fueling a culture for 21st Century soccer players who expect and get too much, too soon and too easily.
Young soccer players making headlines for all the wrong reasons are becoming regular occurrences. World superstars such as Wayne Rooney, John Terry and Ashley Cole have all been subject to intense media scrutiny after their extra marital affairs. Newcastle United player, Joey Barton has twice been convicted of violence charges due to incidents away from soccer.
The demand on young players in the modern era has intensified because of the amount of money that circulates within the sport. Young players need to be brought down to earth and taught a little humility.
