Did you know that soccer players don’t go to college in Europe? Well, this has been the case for a long time now. The history of European players entering the world of soccer at a tender age and graduating to become professionals without ever stepping into college is a well-known fact. This is quite interesting, especially if you compare it with what happens in America. Does it mean that in America sports is intertwined with education while in Europe sports is a standalone entity?
So, why do soccer players don’t go to college in Europe? The truth of the matter is that there are multiple reasons why this is the case. The one thing that comes out quite clearly is that the system of sports development in the US is different from the one in Europe. Again, the nature of soccer in America compared to Europe is totally different.
It’s these fundamentals that make soccer players in Europe find it difficult to attend college. Perhaps the question lingering in your mind right now is whether the level of European soccer is high enough to substitute college education. Is it a sustainable career for these players? Certainly, an in-depth discussion of the various factors in play here will give you a detailed picture of the subject matter.
A Brief Background of the American System
For the purpose of developing a solid reference point, let’s check out what happens in the American sports development system. If you look at sports like basketball, baseball, and American football, you’ll notice that they are homegrown sports that are hugely popular in the US. For this reason, players have to first graduate from high school, go to play at college level, and after that they are drafted to join a professional team.
You will agree with me that this system has worked successfully to develop the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball to become extremely popular among American fans. But, the biggest question is-Is this system working in soccer really?
Quite frankly, Americans have tried to push soccer to go into that direction but it hasn’t been successful. Simply put, it works differently from these other sports. The idea of having to go through college education for one to be a professional soccer player doesn’t work as it does in basketball, baseball, and American football. That is why European countries like England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain have invested so much in the development of soccer players. For these European countries, a professional club system works better than a college route.
Having gotten a background idea of how the sports system in America works, we can now delve into the reasons why you’ll not find soccer players in Europe going to college.
Soccer Is the Most Popular Sport in the World
Did you know that soccer is the most popular sport in the world? While this might come as a surprise to many, it’s actually true. When you take a critical look at it, this is arguably the only sport that almost every country participates in. There are billions of fans around the world who follow and support it. Unlike sports like American football that are only popular in America, soccer is dominant across the world.
If you are interested in knowing why and how it became so popular make sure to check out my article “17 Reasons Why Soccer is the Most Popular Sport in the World”
It’s this kind of recognition that makes soccer a different breed of sport. The amount of investment that countries put in it, especially in Europe, is huge. National teams and soccer clubs invest a lot of money to ensure that the resources needed are put in place for the growth and development of the sport. Take for instance European clubs like Barcelona in Spain, Chelsea in England, PSG in France, Juventus in Italy, and Bayern Munich in Germany- they invest so much money to buy players to play for them.
If a soccer team is able to invest so much money and resources in a player, it goes without saying that it will be hard for a player to go to college. If a person is willing to pay the price for you to achieve your dreams, would you think of taking another route? Most definitely, the answer is no!
Truth be told, it’s the desire of every young and talented European soccer player to reach the highest heights of his career. Thus, the idea of going to college while much of your passion and time is invested in the most popular sport in the world doesn’t sink in well for most players.
Lack of Enough Time to Dedicate Oneself to School and Soccer
If you’ve ever dedicated your time to do something, you know what that means, right? It requires a lot of your effort to accomplish it. I believe this is what happens when soccer players in Europe put all their efforts in developing the sport. It’s really difficult, if not impossible, for them to be in college while still playing professionally. Have you ever asked yourself why soccer isn’t as popular in America as it is in Europe? I wrote an article with 6 reasons why this happens, make sure to take a look at it here.
Well, this is one of the reasons. While players in Europe are so much into the development of their skills and careers in the sport, the structure being used in America doesn’t accommodate that fully. For example, if you take sports like American football, basketball, and baseball, you have to go to college for you to be part of a professional team in the future. Clearly, this is something that you don’t expect to see in European soccer. Time to balance the two isn’t available.
Players Are Able To Save Enough Money
For many people, the reason why they strive to go to college is for them to increase their opportunities of making a decent income. What this means is that if they are able to find a way of making money without having to go to college, most of them wouldn’t think of furthering their studies. Since soccer is the most popular sport in the world, you can be sure that the prospect of saving enough money as a player is high. After a player manages to save enough money during his playing career, he will not see much need of going to college. The money gathered is able to cater for his needs.
I actually wrote an article about “Why Are Soccer Players Paid So Much” where you’ll be able to understand how the way soccer players earn their money differs from all other sports.
In Europe University Is More about Education than Sports
Unlike in America, universities in Europe focus more on education as opposed to sports. There’s not much interest in sports as you will find in the US. In fact, colleges in the US give scholarships to students who play basketball, baseball, and American football. For such universities, education and sports are important for a student. As long as a student is performing well in academics, participation in sporting activities is most welcome.
However, this isn’t the case in European nations. For one to enter into a university, the main qualification is academics as opposed to playing soccer. That is why you will find most soccer players in Europe not joining college. Here, it’s all about the path that you choose. You either choose to play soccer or concentrate in academics. Quite honestly, it’s hard to practice for 3 hours daily while you’re still studying in college with the desire of getting the best grades.
While it’s possible to get good grades while you’re playing soccer in college, the level of professional development that you will have isn’t what European teams and clubs are looking for. Teams want their players to spend more time practicing and perfecting their skills. It’s for this reason that colleges in Europe have put a distinction between academics and sports.
Still, on the distinction between colleges in Europe and those in America, inter-college tournaments are not famous in Europe as they are in America. The amount of pressure that American colleges experience in order to do well in sports forces them to concentrate much in getting the right players for the tournaments. On the contrary, there is no pressure to participate in inter-college sporting activities in European schools. Consequently, they don’t have a high demand for their own college soccer players.
Thus, soccer players don’t have to go through college to be adopted into professional teams. If a player identifies a team that fits his playing preferences or a club spots a player with the potential to grow, the only viable thing is to develop the player. In the European context, development and growth doesn’t have to go through the college door because universities there invest more in academics than sports.
Besides, education isn’t a priority for elite prospects of college athletes in USA either. Some might not be getting good grades and still it’s most important for the university that the athlete keeps practicing for the college team. Some of them even drop-out of college if they are drafted by a team before ending their bachelor.
It might seem in America they are trying to combine sports and education, but it has grown to a point where this combination is merely symbolical.
Development of Soccer Players in Europe Begins Early
The development of soccer players in Europe begins early. You will most of them starting to build their soccer skills during their early teenage years or below. The fact that soccer development can begin that early means that it’s a resource that many are willing to invest heavily in. If you take, for instance, the best soccer players in the world at the moment, you will learn that they started playing for their clubs when they were very young. They went through different developmental stages until they sharpened their skills for a great career ahead of them.
That is why most of them end up becoming legends in their clubs. They don’t play for any other club or team in their entire soccer career. Honestly, it will be very hard for a player to start his professional development at a young age and put it on hold at some point so as to go to college. If a national or foreign team chooses to grow the potential of a player, it means that everything that he will be doing will be revolving around soccer. Hence, soccer players fail to go to college in Europe because of their ability to identify and develop their talent at a young age.
How is The Professional Club System in Europe Structured?
Another reason why many soccer players in Europe don’t go to college is because of the structure of their professional clubs. I acknowledge that this is one of the major building blocks why soccer has continued to be popular in Europe. If you’ve been following the trends and developments of different clubs in countries like France, Spain, England, Italy, and Germany, you’ll notice that they have soccer academies that concentrate on nurturing the talent of players. What these academies do is that they identify the potential in players and train them to become world-class professionals.
It’s not possible to join college when you’re in an environment like that. When players are in such a structured environment, it will be difficult for them to set their minds on the demands of being in college. They can only handle one thing at a time and, definitely, being in college isn’t the one.
Within a few years of being in a soccer academy, a player will have grown tremendously in their professional soccer skills to even think of going to college. Unlike in America where college education acts as the pathway to playing professionally, in Europe things are different.
Is It A Do or Die For Soccer Players in Europe?
Have you ever been in a position where you have to choose between two important things? If yes, am sure it wasn’t an easy decision to make, right? Well, this is a situation that soccer players find themselves in and have to choose one thing. Do they continue with their professional sports development or do they pursue college education? Based on the amount of influence that soccer has in Europe, most players opt for continuing with soccer and forget about college education.
It’s what you would call a do or die situation. For them, if they manage to make a breakthrough in their professional development as soccer players, they will make it big. They will make a living out of it. This is the dream of every young player desiring to get the best out of his playing career. The level of competition in European soccer is so high that players have to put in a lot of effort to reach the highest heights of the game.
If you fail to work hard, you will fall down the ladder of success in the soccer world. This is evidenced by the level of training that players undertake so as to remain fit and relevant on the field. If you take, for example, the level of competition among the major European leagues, you will understand why soccer is so significant. It’s because of this that the idea of going to college doesn’t come up among soccer players in Europe. For them, they would rather stick to the gains of playing soccer rather than mixing them with the commitments of being in school.
Are the Prospects of a Long-Term Soccer Career in Europe High?
European soccer promises better prospects of a long-term career compared to soccer in America. With the level of professional development that players go through in the European context, it’s without a doubt that one can’t miss the opportunity of remaining relevant for a long time. Imagine if you started mastering something when you were young? You will be so good at it to the extent of being a specialist in it, right? This is the advantage that soccer players in Europe have over their counterparts in America.
Even after your playing days, there’s so much that you can do to propel your career to greater heights. People go to college to expand their career options. What if you never went to college but chose a path that would equally increase your career options. This will still be an excellent decision. This is what soccer players in Europe envision by failing to go to college. They believe that they have the right environment to nurture the potential of a long-term profession in the soccer world.
Just to mention a few options that retired soccer players take after retiring from playing club soccer, they can become coaches, soccer analysts, or be absorbed by their former teams in capacities of interest to them. With this in mind, soccer players don’t see any justification for going to college if they can climb the ladder of success through their passion and interest in the game.
It’s obvious that soccer players don’t go to college in Europe, and there are pivotal reasons to show why this is the case. From the onset, it’s important to take note that the system of professional sports development in America isn’t the same as that of Europe. There are fundamental differences between the two that affect how and why players join college.
Essentially, soccer is more popular in Europe than it is in America. While America is known for basketball, baseball, and American football, Europe is well known for soccer. Since the homegrown sports in America go through the college developmental system, they have tried to do the same for soccer but it hasn’t worked. This is a justifiable reason why soccer players in Europe don’t go to college. The level of commitment that soccer players are required to put in place and the many demands of the sport forces most players not to go to college.