I’m assuming most people here have had a dreams of playing in cup final scoring the winner and such
So how far did you get to reaching such dreams
Did you reach academy levels l or high
I thought of this question because I’ve one of dad’s "oh I could played pro if it wasn’t for my shit knees
I mentioned elsewhere that my sixth form college was home to the academy team of our local National League team.
As part of the academy, they could do a sports BTEC so they left with some recognised qualifications.
My A-Level PE teacher taught some of the classes. One week they were all messing around, as per usual, and he just lost his rag a bit and asked the ringleaders “boys, you’re 17/18 years old, what are you going to be in 3-4 years time?”
All replied “a footballer sir” full of all the expected confidence and bravado.
He replied, “right. You’re all aware that only 2% of academy players end up playing regularly at the level of their parent club? There’s 20 of you in this class so statistically, none of you will make it at this level. Bear in mind, you’re at the academy of a semi-pro team. Your senior team teammates that you can’t get in the squad ahead of are plumbers, electricians, and PE teachers from 9-5 Monday to Friday. And you all think you’ll be the exception?”
He said he liked to think the switch flicked in a few of their heads, but there was still this desperate belief they could make it. This had been their whole purpose and identity since they were toddlers, the hard hit of reality and having no solid back-up option wasn’t something they were looking forward to.