Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys subsidizes training for young footballers through revenue from its professional team and player transfers. Meanwhile, in the United States, parents can pay between $1,000 and $3,000 per year for similar activities, NPR World reports.
Academy in Rosario
Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario trains about 700 children aged 4 to 12 every week. The academy’s most promising graduates receive scholarships and train free of charge. Others pay about $25 per month for two training sessions a week with coaches, most of whom were previously professional footballers.
Lionel Messi played for Newell’s Old Boys from the age of six to 13. The club’s professional team competes in Argentina’s top division and earns revenue from ticket sales and broadcasting rights. The club also makes money when its best young footballers move to other Argentine or foreign teams.
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Training compensation payments
Newell’s Old Boys youth director Gustavo Toñarelli said that academy graduates help support the club. The team funds training and education for about 400 footballers aged 12 to 18, who train up to six times a week.
In Europe and South America, youth clubs can receive part of the transfer fee for a player they trained between the ages of 12 and 23. These mechanisms are called training compensation and solidarity payments. In the United States, youth clubs largely do not receive such funds because Major League Soccer clubs are not required by the U.S. Soccer Federation to share transfer payments for trained players.
Debate over MLS
Coach Rory O’Neill believes that U.S. youth clubs have limited sources of income and depend mainly on parental fees. He proposes an open system with promotion and relegation of teams between divisions. Currently, only 30 teams can play in MLS, and entering the league requires hundreds of millions of dollars. O’Neill and Orlando coach Filippo Silva believe that an open system could encourage more investors to invest in clubs and youth academies.
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