What we're not doing is actually getting to the crux of the issue and saying, right, this comes down to the emotional regulation of young people, the emotional intelligence, but also understanding the opportunities and lack of opportunities that these young people have. "They're used to being that person who's the centre of attention, being an academy player, so when the attention goes, you're going to want attention in different ways," he said. Kofi's mentor, Sayce Holmes-Lewis, works with young players in south London and says some of those released by academies can be tempted by gang life. I'll give anything for it and the clubs that see that passion, that desire and the talent - they just keep you there and make it difficult to really move on or do anything." "Especially from where I've come from, it's literally the only escape if your father passes and you've got to look out for your mum," he said. He feels football, in the wrong hands, can be used to exploit youngsters, particularly from deprived backgrounds. When he was released by Barnet in 2018, Kofi flirted with gang life but has now resolved to get his football career back on track. Sometimes you just need an arm around you." I understand that it's a very masculine game and the competition is fierce, but sometimes for some of us mentally, it's not easy. Sometimes it's a thing of I'm going through something here and I need some help. But for some of us, sometimes it's not just a 'man up' thing. "They expect you to 'grow up, man up', when you're on the pitch, when you get fouled - 'man up, it's not that difficult, it's not that bad'. He feels academies are sometimes uncaring environments. At 14 he lost his dad to cancer and struggled with football, coupled with the pressure of feeling like he now had to provide for his mum. Kofi was scouted to play for two different academies. As a kid he played alongside Arsenal's Reiss Nelson and Jadon Sancho - one of the world's best young players at the London Youth Games. He grew up on a council estate in Peckham and viewed football as a form of escape. Kofi Anokye-Boadi, 20, has been part of the football youth development system in London. He is now a fitness coach and consultant. Tom has spoken at academies to warn young players of some of the pitfalls of being released. I've got lots of friends who were in academies too and they all, in some way, some shape or form have been affected by that loss of identity - some still cling onto that idea of being a footballer." That's in my eyes why I was popular, why people liked me. "My whole identity was built around being a footballer. I just started crying and I was like, 'where did that come from?' And you start to dig in and actually I realised I just didn't know myself. "We were talking about my injury and what happened in my story. "I can actually remember sitting in the room with the therapist for the first time," he said. Tom checked into the Sporting Chance clinic for sportsmen and women with addiction problems. "I was a son to be proud of, playing for Bristol City and now I've brought shame to the family because I'm now selling drugs." "I was actually more scared when they took me to the station of having the phone call with my parents and how embarrassed they'd be with me," he said. Image: Tom is now a fitness coach and consultant One individual working at an academy described it to me as a form of triaging - just deciding which order to prepare boys for their exit from football.Īlthough the academic education and welfare provisions in academies have improved drastically in the past 10-15 years, some believe there needs to be a reframing of the attitude within academies of football to place education at the core, even for those aged 16-18 who have been given scholarships at the club. Several boys mentioned to me that they felt they were taken on simply to act as "training partners" for the one or two boys in their cohort who were identified as having the potential to progress. Separately, some current and former academy coaches I have spoken to believe there needs to be a football-wide conversation about the numbers being taken into academies. His parents paid tribute to the coaching at Manchester City but said he had been left devastated after his release.Ī full inquest will be held in the spring and the club has been asked to provide a statement detailing support that was given to him during his time at the club and following his release. Image: Football is seen by some boys as an escape from a disadvantaged upbringing
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