Sports are very good for young people’s development man. You only realise how much so later I think...

You have to learn self reliance, to overcome horrible doubt, to be reliable, to work with/for other people, to communicate and if you your family ain’t got a car (as was the case for many of us, lol) how to get yourself to training...

It’s only now I see how many of the young men of my era who played ball have used those skills elsewhere in life to progress. A few fell through the cracks, as I nearly did myself after I stopped playing,
but most are doing fairly well considering what we came from.

The clubs still need to do much more to emphasise education and developing other skills and to support players that leave during those crucial young years. Seems they do this better in Europe but that may just be a perception?

Personally I would out martial arts in schools, but that’s just me. You learn so much humility when you realise you’re not actually *that* tough.