It’s all a bit ridiculous that ALL THREE of the girls got accepted to the academy at the same time. Especially as it’s obvious to anyone who has watched their channel that they haven’t been in amateur teams or had any passion for the sport generally. Only one of the girls (not sure if it was Halle or Houston), in the past showed a genuine interest in playing like her elder brother and at the time Tim was on a mission to have his daughters be housewives so didn’t develop that interest.
what has happened here is an agreement between the Chelsea talent scout and ‘we make footballers’/Tim. They are using having 3 kids enter the academy as a way to promote the franchise. Notice that it’s only Grimwade girls who have made it past the audition…not any of the other kids at the franchise. I doubt they will even bother travelling to the training ground…they are just names on a list for PR purposes.
I think it actually dulls down Heze’s supposed ‘talent’, if his sisters can get admitted with no training or match performance background. It also makes me think that if a parent pushes their kid in football, ingratiates themselves with a scout…it must be pretty easy to get them an academy place.
I saw a documentary once which said about 1% make it as pros at the end and it’s quite hard for all the kids who get dropped. The academies are hedging their bets by seeing how players develop…even finding that 1% is a goldmine, plus by having so many kids in the academy and competing for places it publicises the club. Yet in reality…the other 99% just function as training competition to push that 1% to perform at the top level.
If Heze had been pushed into tennis instead from the age of 2…above all else including getting an education…he’d also be in a situation in another sport where he would be competing well for his general age group, he’s got there through conditioning not necessarily talent. But being conditioned to train isn’t the same as natural talent…by the time he is 18 he could find that kids who have more natural talent who have played football around their school commitments or started training later (so have not needed to put as many hours training in) will overtake him.
I’m not being mean to Heze, there is of course the chance that he is naturally talented and will become the next Beckham. But I doubt it…normally talent is noticed at school or an extra-curricular club and then nourished. With Heze, his father decided he would be a pro footballer probably before he could walk, and until he got into the academy (via a friend of his fathers conveniently being the scout), he mostly had just practised at home kicking up against a wall.
If Heze or his sisters had signed to any other club than Chelsea…it being purely due to natural talent would not be so obviously questionable. The Nike deal was clearly so that the products could be promoted on the YouTube channel…it’s got nothing to do with Heze being a pro…he doesn’t play in any matches where his nikewear is being seen.