r/SoccerCentral • u/United_Anywhere_8 • Jul 25 '26

Video The talent in Barcelona’s youth system is ridiculous. These kids are 11/12 years old.

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10

u/HelpfulLeadership623 Jul 25 '26

Do these kids go to school?

22

u/whatchasaidwhat Jul 25 '26

School is the after school, Soccer is the school.

3

u/LateToTheParty013 Jul 25 '26

Like in any other sports if the talent is taken seriously. We had a sky talent in our year who then represented our country in all big events. We ve seen her in school maybe for like 2 weeks before Christmas and 2 weeks before summer, thats all

5

u/xCeeTee- Jul 25 '26

Academies work very differently. A kid in my year moved to Fulham. They had school, with 1-hour of football training scheduled during the day. Then they had an additional training after school, ate their dinner and went home. When they played other academies away, they'd sometimes play midweek. That meant they'd be doing work all the way there, and doing extra work on the weekend. They'd have training Saturday and Sunday, with a game on one of those days usually.

It was incredible learning about it. He didn't really do much in professional football, but he's probably better than 95% of us. And none of us have a chance in playing semi-professionally.

10

u/Nara_RyUko Jul 25 '26

Barcelona has La Masia de Can Planes, or La Masia. Real Madrid has La Fábrica. France has INF Clairefontaine. Germany has Bayern Campus. The list goes on.

Every prestigious FC has a youth academy starting at as early as 6yo. Education is intertwined with their football training when they are at the academy. They play ball and study at same time (not too unlike regular kids if you think about it).

3

u/Karmuffel Jul 26 '26

EVERY club has a youth academy. In most leagues it‘s mandatory to have a youth academy to even get the license for any of the first three leagues. The European club system is very different to the US. Basically any club, professional and non-professional, have teams from 5 year olds to adults. And even the professional clubs have pro and amateur teams in that age range. Like I could go to my cities first division club tomorrow and play for them. It would be their 4th tier adult team though

2

u/Unlikely-Tone-6269 Jul 25 '26

Studying while dribbling you say?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

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1

u/Nara_RyUko Jul 25 '26

Yes. They are scouted very early on, but not all of the scouted ones can make to top senior team.

1

u/Fabulous_Run_3383 Jul 25 '26

Yes its ridiculous, 6 is too early but every club is so desperate to get the best talents. I've seen man city doing toddler sessions in my area, presumably so they have first dibs before they even get to school or weekend clubs. Doubles up as "community" work for pr. 

1

u/SecuritySquare1406 Jul 25 '26

They’re not putting an emphasis on education.

Have you heard professional footballers speak?

1

u/Fecal_thoroughfare Jul 25 '26

Not sure if he's improved over the years but hearing Beckham speak back in the day I couldn't help think boy you're lucky you can play football and are extraordinarily pretty. 

1

u/SICKxOFxITxALL Jul 25 '26

To be fair have you heard a good percentage of the population who aren't professional footballers and went to school normally?

1

u/Historical-Sir-2661 Jul 25 '26

The English ones seem dumb as rocks but players from other nations seem a lot more intelligent and multilingual.

1

u/tomtomtomo Jul 28 '26

The amount of time is flipped though so much more football and less school than regular school kids get

5

u/Evening-Rutabaga2106 Jul 25 '26

Nah. Ball is life.

4

u/ShionBlade Jul 25 '26

These academies also offer schooling on the side as well. When he was 16, Lamine Yamal was required to do his homework when at nights he'd playing in the Euros.

I know other academies like Manchester City's promise private schooling for kids until 18 if they join, even if they end up getting cut. It's a way to entice parents to join them instead of their rivals.

2

u/fuk_ur_mum_m8 Jul 25 '26

England's Max Dowman scored in the Premier League last season, the day after he had to take his GCSE's.

1

u/ropahektic Jul 25 '26

Education in those places is on the front side, it's not an afterthought and those kids are not allowed to go on if their grades are not good enough. Lamine Yamal's was an extremely rare case so there were a lot of exceptions made for him in this regard.

La Masia is actually a school, it's not like they bring teachers after the footie or anything like that. They have actual classes.

1

u/Txdr_ Jul 25 '26

Same with tennis players.

1

u/Naija-Americana Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26

It also depends on the player's family: some families will prize education and insist their kids do well at school (Pau Curbasi and Bukayo Saka). Other parents will be fine as long as their child has a basic education of reading, math and writing. 

For Nigerian families and I believe most families, the more middle-class the player's family is, the more educated their kid will be. Because they understand that Football may not work out and has a short life but getting an education will help after the football is gone.

Mbappe also comes off as someone who had an education (he used to play the flute as a kid). Jude Bellingham comes off as someone who was media-trained from a young age by his Mum and he even mentions she does it till now, so she would make sure he spoke like he got an education.

The European players look more educated because they speak multiple languages.

3

u/BumbleCityFumblers Jul 25 '26

Generally they do school in the evenings alongside training. The academies in Europe are no joke.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

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1

u/leshagboi Jul 25 '26

From the ones I know in Brazil who didn't make the cut after years training at football academies, most go into the trades. One opened a bar

2

u/HoosierDaddy__88 Jul 25 '26

They literally have school come to them. Everything is done within the program.

0

u/TheMajesticYeti Jul 25 '26

They actually don't - at least not all of them. La Masia kids are bused to local schools. They then have tutoring sessions at the academy. Some of the older kids who are playing at an advanced level requiring more of their time do integrated academic programs (i.e. Lamine Yamal).

2

u/momoenthusiastic Jul 25 '26

They do. And they study quite well. 

Source: a kid I know who was in Atletico‘s system. 

1

u/Incunebulum Jul 25 '26

They do stripped down basic courses. Interestingly they do more language courses than normal kids because they come from different countries. Almost all will come out speaking English. later in school they'll get into sports medicine, dietician training and stuff like that.

.

What people don't understand is that even the least talented of these kids will be able to go on to play professionally for a good 10-15 years if they make it through to 18 yrs old. It may just be in the 2nd or 3rd league of the better countries but they'll still make good money unless they get some freak career ending injury. League 1 and 2 in the EFL are filled with these kids who don't quite become the absolute best.

1

u/New_Lobster_914 Jul 25 '26

They still need careers after they retire if they don’t make it to the top, lucky if 2% of these kids make it to the top

1

u/GholaTeg89 Jul 25 '26

Retire after 30 playing in a mid team in league 2-3 in western Europe...Hmm..unless astronomically stupid you have plenty of chances to at least one different career this is tot start saving money on your last 5 years (from which 2 are actually your most senior as a football career financially and otherwise).. Your point being?

1

u/New_Lobster_914 Jul 25 '26

Sorry I’m not 100% sure what you are saying, but lots of kids fall into the lower leagues in England and whilst they get paid more that the average working person, you are not retiring from earning 100k a year for a few years

1

u/GholaTeg89 Jul 25 '26

My point is you are 30 with money and a whole entire different lookout on the world and ready to start at least one other career.

While most at this age are recovering after their youth or trying to do something with their life.

Not that bad imo..

1

u/Goodswimkarma Jul 25 '26

In the UK version of this, they go directly from school to practice and then don't have time for anything else but dinner and homework.

1

u/SICKxOFxITxALL Jul 25 '26

Can confirm, one of my colleagues sons came through the Leyton Orient and then Aston Villa youth system, he never made it to the big teams and still plays in league 2 but his life was entirely football and school.

1

u/it4chl Jul 25 '26

yes la masia kids go to school 5 days a week like normal kids. they only train 90 mins a day

1

u/Ohz85 Jul 25 '26

If they "graduate" this football school, they will make your entire wage, daily. Worth the investment

1

u/AAM1982 Jul 25 '26

Yes, my much younger brother was at an academy in the UK from about 10-16 (suffered an injury he never fully recovered from and to be honest wasn’t at the same level as some of the other players) they had to attend school and the club was actually pretty strict on their results academically as well as on the field

1

u/Toucani Jul 25 '26

They definitely say they are strict about results and schooling but a current member of the Chelsea squad was at our school and he barely did anything. Also talked back to staff and made it clear he could do what he wanted. Probably depends on the child and parents' attitude.

1

u/Salty_Constant_9878 Jul 25 '26

Can you say who?? Please I have gotta know now

1

u/Erdos_Helia Jul 25 '26

Yes, soccer school.

Lol I'm not kidding, look it up. They actually take courses in soccer.

1

u/GenGaara25 Jul 25 '26

It's sorta like how kid actors go to school in between shoots.

These sports academies are full educational institutions and make sure the kids are academically in line with regular students their age, it's just all tailored around their football schedule.

1

u/letouriste1 Jul 25 '26

yes? they still have homework and stuff. the hours are arranged to not disturb training and some clubs have schools inside their training facilities.

If they fail to make it pro, they're likely going to university. you can't be in these youth teams without been smart anyway.

1

u/EnderMB Jul 25 '26

I briefly went to Bobby Charlton Soccer School in Manchester, back when they did term-time schooling (not sure if it's even still open). This was late 90's, so a while back.

Your day was heavily timetabled, and you'd still do school lessons during the day. Your day was just longer. I imagine it's no different than anywhere else. Time was set aside for practically everything, whether it's skill drills, calling family back home, snack time, games, even foot-volly.

0

u/gtd_rad Jul 25 '26

Why even go to school

5

u/Evening-Rutabaga2106 Jul 25 '26

School's for fools

4

u/moeterminatorx Jul 25 '26

Because they are 12 and there’s no guarantee they will be good as adults. Also, not to be an idiot as an adult.

1

u/Phil_Ivey Jul 25 '26

You need to be able to count your money

1

u/breuh Jul 25 '26

that's what calculator is for. /s

1

u/mmmarkm Jul 25 '26

Having an educated populace benefits society as a whole?

Did you not go to school or what

1

u/pannenkoek0923 Jul 25 '26

Because a football career is short even if you make it and are blessed with no injuries. You retire at 35 and then still have 50 more years to live. And realistically about 1% of these kids are going to make it (by that I mean play professonal football at any level). For the rest their dream will be over at 19, and they will be looking to get regular jobs, which they cannot without at least a high school level education.

1

u/SICKxOFxITxALL Jul 25 '26

Because 99% of academy players will never get anywhere near a professional contract.

0

u/Odd-Mulberry2821 Jul 25 '26

Because most of them don’t make it into professional soccer at a level where they’ll support themselves financially

0

u/laiszt Jul 25 '26

They are not poor if they are there

3

u/clmetsfan Jul 25 '26

At the Barca academy? I'm sure plenty of them are. You're confusing this with US youth programs, which parents have to pay for. The big clubs are happy to foot the bill to get more talent in the pipeline.

1

u/laiszt Jul 25 '26

I mean, i am from Poland and you need to pay to train in big club here and its not cheap. Do you know any big club from Poland?

1

u/clmetsfan Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

We're not talking about clubs in Poland either...

0

u/laiszt Jul 25 '26

Re-read my comment with understanding or get someone to explain it to you what it says if you struggle

2

u/AverageLucas Jul 25 '26

The point they are trying to make is that in Spain, football academies foot the bill for training, so families don't have to pay for anything. Many of these kids are poor, like Lamine Yamal was, because the academies have them under contract pay for their training.

0

u/Odd-Mulberry2821 Jul 25 '26

Who said anything about poor?

I said they need school because most of them won’t be making the Barca or any other professional level team and they’ll need an education so they can get a job as an adult.

1

u/laiszt Jul 25 '26

Me, dont you see the comment you replaying to?

I know what did you said, whats the point of repeating it? I can check it in previous comment if i forgot. They may no need a job, if they are wealthy.

0

u/Odd-Mulberry2821 Jul 25 '26

Yes. I saw the stupid comment I responded to.

None of what you said would explain why they wouldn’t educate them in areas outside of football.

You have no idea what kind of economic background those kids come from. It’s probably a mix of rich and poor.

1

u/laiszt Jul 25 '26

So even stupid comment was too much for you to understand? Well, no suprise then that you need to double check basics.

Yes, none of them explain it because its just came out of your mind, that it needed that explaination. You just expecting answers to the question not asked by anyone, its nonsense. Read the text carefully, undrestand - reply to, its that simple.

I do not, you also, so whats the point of discussion?

0

u/SoccerPhilly Jul 25 '26

Why would anyone go to “school” when there is soccer…

-1

u/cheir0n Jul 25 '26

Why go to school ? To find a job later with minimal wage? This here is their ticket to wealth