The illusion of professionalism - when football system designed to serve children starts serving itself

Systems don’t rise to the level of their goals, they fall to the level of their design.

COACHING MATTERS: Assistant coach Stephen O'Donnell during a Republic of Ireland U21 training session at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

In my previous article, I argued that we need to look beyond the production logic that increasingly shapes the debate around Irish youth football. 

Children are too often viewed through an economic lens based on their potential to become elite performers, while the wider cultural, social and developmental value of sport is pushed to the margins.