YOUNG FOOTBALLERS who make it in the premiership can go from ‘rags’ to ‘riches’ in a very short time. Almost overnight their fame and fortune can change.

If you have had a serious injury you are not rushed back on the playing field too soon as it will not recover and heal correctly. Ultimately there are consequences for the lack of rehabilitation with it. So the question needs to be asked, what happens if you give young footballers too much too soon? Can we treat the process like an injury as previously described? What will be the effects of this? It can have both a positive and a negative effect on the individuals concerned.

Take for example, George Best, who had all of the talent on the field but off the field lived the life of a young man who wanted to enjoy life with no boundaries, no limits and no fear.

Paul Gascoigne, who was a brilliant footballer whose genii on the pitch knew no boundaries He felt that he could do anything on it and the same of it.

Let’s look at players and role models like Michael Owen, David Beckham and Thierry Henry - the ultimate professionals. Modern day professional players are not only our role models on the pitch but the same off it. With the increasing pressures placed on them with their superstar status its important that they are now looked at in this way as they are only in the public eye through their football attributes and for no negative reasons.

All of the above mentioned players have gone through a process, from their rise as young youth team professional footballers to levels now where they are recognized world-wide as superstars wherever they go. It could be easy to say that a lot of what they have received was as a result of luck.

Yes, to a degree, it was, but as the saying goes “luck stands for labouring under correct knowledge”. Did they just arrive one day and play football or was it as a result of a series of events that has taken place from youth team players to full 1st team players?

Young players come from all areas of life. Some come from environments where they don’t know and learn values, discipline, or self-respect to enable them to make it as a pro and as a respected member of society. They could be portrayed as a product of their environment carrying the good and bad habits with them. The admiring public and press focus on their negative behaviour just to sell papers. Others make it all the way, receiving a pro contract with all of its riches and fall short of living up to their full potential. Then you have the ones who receive a pro contract and don’t seem to know how to behave and handle the responsibly that comes with it.

Does this mean that they are bad people? No! Mastermind Academy simply believes that there is a reason for this. It’s because they have not been shown how to behave, act and portray the image of a modern day professional footballer.

Mastermind academy has developed a programme where we believe we can eradicate the sometimes negative portrayals that can follow young and mature professional footballers in the modern day game. Instead of just focusing on the problem, it’s time to start focus on the solution.

We say, “lets show you how to be the ultimate professional” before, during and after you play our beautiful game.