I started reading the article and felt two emotions: pity and anger. I had to stop to go and do something else while I cleared my head. The story is a bit like a bio of someone on X Factor. How much is marketing hype?
There are all sorts of issues here
Is this a person with parental powers reliving their sporting life through the children?
Safeguarding: This is a child who has been deprived of a childhood if the story is true. When does he have time to be a kid, to learn to socialise with his peer group rather than be idolised by it? The psychologists have expressed concerns - I see parallels with child Film/TV/Pop stars.
Growth and development: the loads being placed on developing bone ends canot be good for later life, the amount of training he does and has done is crazy. There is a history of addiction in his family. No doubt the endorphine high is great at the moment, but what will he turn to if it all goes wrong? Also the story alludes to him being overplayed and taking beatings with little opportunity for repair and recovery increasing his chances of serious injury.
I see similarities to Chinese Gymnasts, pre Berlin Wall East Germany and Soviet Russia.
There is also the "what if he does not make it?" possibility.
In the 70's I taught in a large Secondary School in Birmingham that had a reputation for producing premier football players. Lots of our students were on the books of major football clubs. Our school teams were awesome winning most of the local tournaments. We often provided the ball boys for the FA cup at Wembly, local derby's etc.
The boys and their parents were sold the dream. They left school at 16 went to the club as YTS or apprentices and were finished at 18. These were lads that had played for school, club, county, England Schoolboys etc. Some but very few went on to play in the top flight of the sport.
When I moved to Yorkshire there was a talented Rugby League Player in the school. He too got his England Schoolboys Jersy and was taken on at 16 by a local Top Flight Rugby League Club. The next two years saw a questionable massive change in his height, weight and muscle mass. At eighteen he had a knee injury was dumped by the team and now drives a rubbish skip lorry for a living.
I know professional sport is entertainment and entertainment requires success, but I am not happy ethically that a child can be treated/manipulated this way and I wonder if it is possible internationally to more actively regulate the activities of coaches/clubs/schools/colleges to prevent it? Or does the money in "Big Entertainment" win the arguement?
