Premier League proposes free football education system

Football is often seen as an uninvited guest on schools curriculums, with very little attention being paid to it, but that could be about to change following an announcement by the Premier League that it is hoping to set up its own education system through the governments new “free schools” policy.

No longer will students experiences of football at school be limited to daydreaming about scoring in the cup final during class, as their vision of studying the finer points of the beautiful game could become a reality under education secretary Michael Gove’s plans.

After England’s disappointing performance in South Africa, the Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore is hoping to hop on Gove’s bandwagon and affect change in both the education and football youth development systems.

“I think there will be a radical development,” said Scudamore. “I can envisage the day when there is a Premier League school. We are working with the clubs and we are taking a look at Michael Gove’s education reforms to see clubs having relationships with schools.

“If you have an elite athlete why not work on their education? We need coaching, schools and schooling to be very closely embedded for football.”

The interest from the Premier League will be welcomed by Gove, who was caught out when he said that some 1,114 schools across England had applied to become academies, when in actual fact only 153 had, according to the Guardian.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: “We want every child to have a premier-league education and would be very happy to talk to the Premier League about setting up schools in communities across the country, where there is a local need.

“We would be delighted if they joined the hundreds of passionate and talented groups that care about raising standards for all children and are interested in setting up new schools.”

Concerns have been raised about the standard of teaching at the academies, but it seems as though people have been letting their anxieties and paranoia getting the better of them, as it’s unlikely that Titus Bramble will be teaching science. Or worse still, football.

Anyway, academies already exist for drama and theatre and there is no similar backlash towards the academic merits of these schools, which adhere to a strict curriculum.

Across the pond in America, it is common for students to earn scholarships to schools on the back of their sporting abilities and they earn an education alongside their studies in their particular sporting field.

As the BBC’s David Bond points out, 81% of players aged between 16 and 18 in the academy system are English, but only 42% graduate to play first team football.

If the 39% who fail to make the grade have earned an education alongside their football studies, they will be in a much stronger position than someone who has been a youth product since the age of 13 and are dumped when the option to sign a professional contract comes around.

With the current coaching system in England coming under increasing scrutiny the Premier League is keen to act and be seen doing so.

According to the Guardian “elite youth players engaged in the Premier League “academy” system receive only five hours of deliberate coaching time” and the Premier League have to be commended for being willing to change this, when the FA is seemingly content to make rafts of grand sweeping reform policies, without every following through on their promises.

Scudamore added: “Our job at the Premier League is to enable, to remove barriers and to share best practice. England [and their World Cup failure] certainly puts this into sharp focus. We need a modern environment for youth development.”

Posted By Dan Mobbs - Wednesday August 4, 2010.
Tags: Premier League, Youth Football