Dual Dream

Many academy footballers in South Africa appear to be on track to become professional footballers. However, very few of these players actually go on to have a sustained professional career, leading to disappointment and confusion for players and parents. But worse still, even those who ‘make it’ are left ill-prepared for life outside of football. Dual Dream identifies the key reasons why the vast majority of South African academy players do not go on to have sustained professional careers, investigates many misconceptions about the opportunities that exist in the game, and highlights some really dangerous pitfalls to avoid. “I want to be a professional footballer” sounds very aspirational, but if the average person has a 45-year working life, even those who go on to have a successful professional career will, at best, only spend a third of their working life earning from playing, typically with minimal savings at the end of it. So what about the rest of life? Having information, statistics and real life case studies can empower players, parents, coaches and academies to consider a shift away from a belief that having a sole focus on professional football is the only way. A ‘dual-dream’ - continues to encourage players to pursue football to the highest level they can, whilst also pursuing other dreams in life, with academic focus, character development, scholarship opportunities and alternative career planning from a young age all significant to the conversation.