Football Vs Education - Decide Your Own Future!

Addressing the Burning Issue Between Parents and their Kid, Football Vs Education - The Verdict!

Parent and their kid often put me in the center to be their final judge on this burning issue... the parent want their kid to pursue education as a better way to secure the future; but the kid believes pursuing a professional football playing career is a better way to secure the future for himself considering the rate of unemployment now-a-days.

The question is:

Is it better to pursue a football career first, and then, go to school later or Is it better to go to school first and pursue a football career later, after you may have graduated? 

There isn't what you may call the right answer. 

If football pays you, you are going to become very rich; and you may decide to go to school later. Education has no age limit, but you can only play professional football when you are between 18 and about 40 years max. 

But there is this saying that "Football Is Not A Career." 

Football is a physical contact and physically strenuous sports, injury and loss of form can knock out a player at the peak of his football career.

Then, if you didn't make it in football, you are doomed for life. It may be difficult and take a lot of will power to reinvent yourself; because football take away everything from you, your spirit, soul and body. 

The thing is, you need education, to make the right decisions and acquaint yourself successfully even in your football career.

Education will give you hope for life, it will open your mind to comprehend complex situation and you will be better prepared to take opportunities, but education doesn't in anyway guaranty you will become rich or even comfortable in life. 

However, whether you want to pursue football career or not, it is important you have basic education up to high school or senior secondary school level.

We allknow, school sports is dead in Nigeria...and no serious sports activities goes  on in our school system these days. Most talented footballers who choose to go to school first, end up loosing form and interest to pursue football career after four or five years course in the university or polytechnic. So most footballers who felt they will pursue football career after graduation, find it so difficult to pick up their form again.

Probability rating

 * To make it through football is 1 : 90.  In every one person that made it in football about 90 has failed.

* To make it through education is 50 : 50. In every fifty persons that made it through education, another fifty has failed. So it is a fifty-fifty chance to become rich and successful through education.

It immediately tells you :that it is riskier to pursue a football career. The probability of succeeding is slimmer, but if you do, the reward is far higher...you become very wealthy.

Decide to Pursue Football Career

To say you are successful in playing professional football is when you are paid such incredible remunerations: weekly salaries and bonuses; as well as enjoy endorsement fees from corporate brand(s). To get to this level you should be playing for a top flight club in Europe or China.

The competition at this level is so high, you are up against players from all over the world. Over 100 million players chasing clubs not more than a 100 thousand.

Professional football in Nigeria and most African countries isn't that lucrative or structured to make you wealthy.

In Nigeria for instance, clubs struggle to pay salaries and often defaults. So every player in Nigeria is desiring to go to Europe or China to ply their trade.

You can't attain all these if you are an average talent!
 So it is not just about dreaming, it is about telling yourself the truth! If you are not endowed with outstanding football skills, don't waste your time, go to school!

To get a club to sign you in Europe or China is like a camel passing through the eye of a needle. There are lots of regulations against such international transfers and you have to meet the requirements. Then for you to be discovered by the right scouts and agents who will introduce you to clubs abroad for possible trials is another nut to crack.

To be discovered you need to play and shine in a world class tournament such as Fifa world cup or other scouting programs that attract the right scouts and agents. It is such Herculean task that involves a lot of effort, time, and money...with no assurance you will still make it.

Decide to Pursue Education

To succeed you have to graduate from the university and get a well paid employment with a kind of job security. Otherwise, you may decide to go the entrepreneurship alternative... Raise capital and start up a venture or go through apprenticeship and get set up by your boss at an appointed time.

To be sincere, it doesn't come any easy in our country Nigeria; where over 100 million people within the working class age group are unemployed.

 Little and insignificant number of venture capitalists or Angel funding start up businesses. Banks largely do not fund start ups, but only fund expansion of already established businesses... Graduating from the University doesn't seem to give you any advantage.

Many more educated people are roaming the streets of Nigeria without jobs, as the University keep churning out many more graduates each year.

Sometimes, it looks like pursuing football career headlong is taking the bull by the horn...if you succeed well and good... If not, life goes on, the struggle continues.

Play and Study Abroad

Most cases brought to me for counsel, I always given this as my recommendation; to meet both parent and their kid at the center. You can play and study in countries like USA and Canada that has a very robust collegiate football system.

All you need is to search and make inquiries from such colleges and Universities in US and Canada to know what it requires to gain admission into such school.

In case your kid is a very skillful footballer, and you can afford it financially to send him abroad, then this is the best option to follow...search for schools that offer athletic scholarship and apply. There are agents you can contact, who can help you to process the scholarship admission.