Living The Life: Two Points on Being A Pro

I recently heard and read about two things that made me think about being a professional. Both of these things sparked my thoughts and I decided to turn that into an article.

During the MLS All-Star Game, a flurry of MLS and Adidas sponsored commercials were passed. All of them showed the same thing, the one thing that I have the most passion for: Youth Development. Some featured David Beckham kicking around with some kids from an island off of England and others showing other MLS stars coaching kids. It was one simple statement that one player made that is one key point today. “Its a fun life, but you have to earn it.” He is talking about being a pro and the hard work it takes to simply earn a spot. After reviewing a California State College’s 3-week workout/training program, I was amazed at the level of condition that college athletes are in. The next level’s training program would surely blow my mind away. It is my personal opinion that our youth need to have the aforementioned simple statement drilled into their heads over and over again. Too many youth kids get by on talent alone and never even make it to college(which is sad) because they never develop the work ethic that is required at the next level.

The next level’s work ethic totally blows my mind away. I can not say for certain but I do know that Mexican clubs train 2-3 times a day with very few days off. Our current youth movement practices 2-3 times a week. Colleges go everyday, 1 time, with the occasional 2-a days. So, their is a dramatic progression on the scale, like taking step by step then, ten steps at one time. I think today’s youth needs to practice at a higher level or more times a week. They also need to know what it takes to get to the next level. My dream is for the next generation of U.S. soccer is a World Cup Championship, but with that dream comes the realization that much hard work is needed.

My next point is from an article that I recently read about Joey Barton. Barton played for Man City and is now with Newcastle United. He has been in a bit of trouble to say the least. But I think the media have hyped his story, not to say that a trip to prison is not big news. Joey Barton is a perfect example for my main point. That is, living the life is not all that is hyped up to be. In society, common folk rarely see celebrities from sports, film, or glamor outside in the normal world. The normal world being: the movie theatre, normal shopping malls, and many other “common folk” gatherings. The reason is a perfectly good one, these people would literally be killed by the amount of people hounding them for their attention. So, some of Barton’s incidents can be forgiven. Another part of being a pro is the amount of pressure to perform and to be literally owned. Many famous pros having commented on what goes on behind the scenes. Players playing hurt or on an extreme amount of pain medication. Or pressure from management to perform. I think on the outside, it looks like the perfect life, as easy as “getting on your favorite ride at Disney World and not getting off for a long time.” My second point: We can easily criticize on the outside, but in the end, do people come to your job, harass you, publish hundreds of stories on your life, and then throw you in jail for simply fighting back?

From start to finish, my two comments today are about the start of soccer in youth, to the end with being a professional.