Professional Football: Chasing An Impossible Dream?

The days of youngsters playing football just for fun being over may be a slight exaggeration. But for an increasing number of them playing for teams, getting scouted, or getting into academies is becoming a desirable option as it is the most secure route to becoming a footballer today.

The scouting system itself even encourages youngsters to play for teams because it is the easiest way to get discovered. 

Scouts no longer walk the local parks or stand in school playgrounds in search of a toddler with a magic touch. Scouts are aware that being at the footballing academies and near the established lower league teams is the most efficient way to spend their time. They know these teams are the filter at the lowest level of players of good ability, and so do the youngsters that play in them.

Inflated wages that players in the highest bracket of professional football earn is a factor that no doubt plays an influential role in attracting young people to the sport.

Even players gone before with the best attitude required to making the elite levels would find it difficult to resist the pull of money today. But only two decades or so ago, youngsters then grew up to a completely different image of top players.

The wages in football are a luxury that the businesses in the highest tier can offer.

That is a fact. But why do many ignore that top earning footballers are frequently eclipsed by the ones that don’t earn as much in the same profession?

As ludicrous as it may sound, the reality is that top earning players are in the minority. A fact that is clouded to kids and in some cases forceful parents who pursue a dream distorted by the very same fame and attention the players that youngsters idolize get.

Football at the lowest end of the chart will always function to produce players for the teams higher up in the order. A harsh reality is that for every gem discovered, a dozen players are forced to leave behind what in some cases is a misguided dream.

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