Do youth soccer academies provide developmental experiences that prepare players for life beyond soccer? A retrospective account in the United Kingdom.

Abstract

The professionalisation of soccer academies has intensified, with youth players exposed to demanding performance focused environments in pursuit of a career in the professional game. Yet, academies are also under increasing pressure to show that they develop players who can function in life beyond soccer. Therefore, this study explored the retrospective views of 13 ex-elite UK youth academy soccer players on whether their time within the academy provided developmental experiences that prepared them for life beyond soccer. We interviewed seven players who successfully progressed into professional contracts and six who did not. Players were recruited from two different academies to explore the developmental outcomes they associated with academy involvement and to unpick how those outcomes were achieved. Our findings showed that, promisingly, time in the academy provided both contracted and non-contracted players with transferable life skills as well as open educational and vocational doors – resulting in the majority of players leaving the environment being ‘(more) ready’ for life. However, these outcomes are not ‘automatic’ and were highly dependent on the interaction between three developmental contextual themes; i) what was demanded by the academy context, ii) what was encouraged within the academy context, and iii) the quality of interpersonal relationships. Beyond this, players’ attitudes, histories and wider socio-contextual influences were important in shaping (future) outcomes. With an eye on providing worthwhile experiences for all youth athletes involved, these findings provide insight into how academy contexts can simultaneously promote performance alongside positive developmental outcomes. Keywords: elite youth soccer, , Positive Youth Development, life skills, dual career, Talent identification and development system outcomes