Beginning of the End of HS Football

Pretty sure Ajax and a few other European clubs have opened academies in the US over the past decade in efforts to mine young US talent for the mothership. As you mentioned, they have long had similar schools in Europe but many are trying to move into what they see as an untapped market. The US Soccer Federation is also trying to set up (and may have already done so… not sure) similar academies in collaboration with MLS teams.

It makes sense from the professional standpoint as the kids all learn the club’s preferred system from an early age and receive consistent coaching instead of switching coaches/strategies every few years as they move clubs or schools. US Soccer has been adamant in saying that our current system has on over-reliance on games and not enough time is spent actually practicing fundamentals, leading to kids that are entirely unprepared for the national/international stage.

I am somewhat surprised that no NBA team has already tried this - although there would certainly be PR issues I am sure. Seems that the NBA could be suffering from a similar crisis as soccer where AAU kids are skipping steps and not learning good fundamentals before entering the NBA. On that note, if you are an NBA fan, ESPN’s Dave Telep had a great rant going on Twitter last night/this morning on this subject…

I had several friends in high school who went there for a couple weeks every summer. I never did though. Too damn expensive. I went to the Katy ISD camp that cost $25 for a 2 week camp an hour a day. Yeah!!!

It’s hard to compare team sports and individual sports though.

Are you opposed to this on principle in other sports as well?

I think it is a mighty difficult decision for parents if you have a kid who at an early age is athletic enough and shows the desire to compete at a high level and is offered free schooling / room and board at a school that would offer a great education and premier coaching in the sport.

I know that is separate from what IMG is doing, but I tend to agree with Scipio’s point that things are heading this direction. In the case of most of the European academies, the kids are getting elite educations and also getting the best possible chance of succeeding at making it professionally - all at no charge to the parents. The costs are mostly social - the kids are separated from their families and friends at an early age - but in some scenarios, that might be a benefit.

Programs like Prestonwood Christian Academy and Skyline aren’t already doing this on a smaller scale. But, they’re also not in it for the end game of representing the athlete at the professional level. This could indeed be a game changer and is on my radar. I’m not convinced it will catch on in Texas as the level of coaching and facilities is already higher than the other states. However, this thing could be a hit in a brokedown place like Florida among SEC recruiting grounds.

I’ve only seen one in high school, Adrian Peterson. I haven’t ever seen him play, but Mike Mitchell is more jacked than Peterson was. As a matter of fact, he’s more jacked than most college and several pro players I’ve seen.