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Youth system is a sporting terminology used to refer to a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young (often local) talent, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise, and to fill up squads numbers in some teams with small budgets. In contrast to most sports in the United States where the collegiate system is responsible for developing young sports people, most football clubs, especially in Europe and South America, take responsibility for developing their own players of the future.

Contents 1 Youth academies 2 Youth leagues 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Youth academies

Most youth systems attached exclusively to one club are often called youth academies. In a youth academy a club will sign multiple players at a very young age and teach them vital skills required to play at that club's standard. ^[1] Clubs are often restricted to recruiting locally based youngsters, as is the case in England, but some larger clubs such as Arsenal, Real Madrid and Chelsea have recruited foreign talent besides locals.

Many of the larger clubs in Europe such as FC Barcelona in Spain, Ajax in the Netherlands, Sporting CP in Portugal and Manchester United in England, to name a few, are regarded as having some of the finest youth academies and have produced many players widely regarded as some of the best in the world. Other clubs such as Brazilian club Grêmio, Espanyol in Spain and English clubs Leeds United, Middlesbrough and West Ham United, while not as financially successful as others, have a world class academy. West Ham's youth academy is known as The Academy of Football and has produced many English talents that have gone on to play with larger clubs in the Premier League.^[2]

Another example is lower league clubs who have produced higher quality players through the academy and sold them to keep the club running. The main prime example of this is Crewe Alexandra F.C. who under Dario Gradi and his staff nurtured players into higher quality players such as David Platt and Dean Ashton and sold them when the time was right.

An alternative name for a Youth Academy is "Centre of Excellence". In English football these terms have distinct meanings and are licensed and regulated by The Football Association and The Football League.^[3]

[edit] Youth leagues

While similar to youth academies, youth leagues are built into a club competition rather than an individual club. However, the teams that play in these youth leagues are generally attached to a larger senior club. The purpose of these leagues is to give young players experience in proper competition against other players that they will most likely end up playing with or against. The English Premier League is known for having a large youth league attached to its senior clubs. In the forthcoming season the A-League in Australia will begin its own youth league.^[4]

Youth leagues aren't just exclusive to association football though. The Australian Football League (AFL) has a youth league established underneath its senior league with no attachment to any senior club. The players that play in this competition are then chosen to play for senior clubs through the AFL Draft. The National Football League (NFL) have a similar system involving their college football competitions.

[edit] See also

• Draft (sport)

[edit] References