Why Don’t All Wonderkids Succeed?
By: Dylan Chia
Tags: Youth Sports, Sports, Listicles, Youth, Training

Photo by Isaiah Rustad from Unsplash

Wonderkids are usually hyped up to be the next big thing. Often compared to current stars who are seen as their natural future progression, these young athletes have introduced themselves to the world by showing glimpses of their potential.

However, the unfortunate truth of the matter is that not all of them are able to carry on their youth form into their senior careers, with some even disappearing into obscurity. Hence, this article will analyse some of the factors involved that affect their performance as they progress to the senior team.

(While this article is mainly focused on football, it can also be extrapolated to other sports as most of these points would still be relevant.)

Physicality

The first is the physical factor, which can be deceptively important. Many youth athletes compete in similar age groups because of this reason (for example, playing with the under-17 or under-19 teams), but may find it hard to adapt when it’s time to transition to the senior team.

They’re suddenly faced with other players who are bigger, stronger, and even faster than they are due to the longer period of time they have spent as an active athlete, resulting in those youths sometimes being unable to cope.

While some players are definitely physically stronger than their older counterparts, dealing with them might be a different story altogether. A pacy winger might be able to sprint past a couple of players, but might not be able to handle a tough-tackling veteran defender, or a muscular centre back might be able to perform good clearances, but might lose aerial duels to hardened midfielders when defending corners.

Expectations

Most youth athletes will have a certain reputation when they’re promoted to the first team, and that results in the manager having certain expectations of them when they step onto the pitch.

While it is understandable that they might not perform at the same level, they are still expected to play to a desired standard. Otherwise, they’ll be dropped before they even have a chance to showcase their potential, especially when the manager decides it’s not worth it to play them over someone more experienced but out of form.

Some players also carry the burden of being labelled as “the next (insert world-class player name here)”, and the weight of those expectations can cause them to crumble under the pressure. This is even more apparent given the increased media attention they face, which can add extra pressure and cause the player to struggle to meet those expectations (for example, Hachim Mastour)

Increased competition (due to changing objectives)

Upon promotion to the senior team, a wonderkid is no longer competing with his peers in the youth team for a place in the lineup, but also with other first-team players and rotational players (most teams include a few youth and reserve players in the team sheet as emergency cover and bench warmers).

Additionally, they are also facing more competition from other players worldwide who have similar playing styles or positions. If a manager is unsatisfied with their performance, they can easily replace them with a new rising star or even a key player from another club.

This is because the objectives have changed since the wonderkid was in the youth team. Then, it’s more about giving them opportunities to gauge their abilities and bringing out the best in them. However, the objective of the first team is to win. This encourages the manager to build the best team to achieve that, (over giving debuts to youngsters to build experience) and if it means selling off that player to fund someone better (regardless of experience, technical skills, or pace etc), the manager is likely to do so.

This increased competition means that they might not be able to stand out in contrast to those players, especially since they usually lose out in the experience department. This also ties in similarly with the next factor.

Playing time

Arguably the most important of the factors, playing time is the essential cog in the machine that ensures that youth players get the experience they need to perform when they finally make the starting lineup.

Most managers will give their youths a chance during cup games or “dead rubber” games (games with no consequences regardless of the result), which is where each player has to try their best to impress them. However, those handful of games are usually not enough to aid their growth.

This can cause some of their careers to stall, especially if they’re constantly warming the bench. This is where loan moves come into play, but sometimes dropping down the leagues might also put a cap on their growth and future ability, resulting in them not hitting their potentials.

There is also the case of “overplaying” a player and causing them to hit their peak early, resulting in an earlier decline, possibly before they even reach the heights expected of them (such as Michael Owen, or so he claims).

Hence, this is the most delicate factor that must be accounted for so managers get the most out of each player.

Mentality

Another important factor is the mentality of the youth players when they finally gain promotion to the first team and make their big debut. It’s a huge step up in their career and this can cause them to struggle with nerves when it’s time to step onto the pitch.

Even something as simple as misplacing a pass or letting an opposing player get past is enough for the manager to think twice about giving them another opportunity, and this can cause the player to lose confidence in their ability, sending them into a downward spiral that can be detrimental in the long term.

Most players would be able to overcome this after a couple of games, but if they continue to struggle with their mentality issues, it is unlikely they’ll be making any more appearances for that team.

However, there is also the issue of dealing with media outlets (a factor that affects all players). Wonderkids would gain more media attention due to their young ages, and this can result in scrutiny for their every action, ranging from huge praise if they perform to unforgiving backlash if they don’t. If they are unable to deal with being in the spotlight, the consequences would be similar to the above-mentioned points, and their confidence would decrease along with their form.