Real Madrid signs seven-year-old soccer prodigy

This isn't really much of a story, actually. This happens all the time in Europe. Wayne Rooney was signed by Everton at age 9. Lionel Messi was signed at age 8. Steven Gerrard joined Liverpool at 9. None of the three played a minute for the actual club team that signed them until age 17 (Gerrard at 18).

In Europe, the soccer teams own youth teams that are aimed at developing the top talent. The kid will join Real Madrid's youth academy and won't be seen with the top club until about 2022. He'll actually have a fairly normal childhood. He'll live with his family near Madrid and come in to train daily with the other 8 and 9-year-olds in Real Madrid's program. It won't cost his family a cent other than insurance for him to play and be coached by one of the best teams in the world. That the family already lived in Spain makes this even less of a story.

This is just how the culture works in Europe and South America. It's no different than signing up an 8-year-old for a traveling baseball team. The only difference is that this is like if the Yankees owned the traveling team. The only story is the kid is one of the younger ones to get signed, but it's not rare for 7-year-olds to get picked up by a club's youth team. It's not common, but it's not Freddy Adu either.

 

Why is this news? Ajax has a youth academy that takes 7-year-olds.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html

 

What's interesting about the youth academy system is that many of them have so few games for the youngest players. We've got youth teams playing 80-plus baseball games per summer, but Ajax only has three practices per week and one match for the 12U squads.

 

The Euro academies don't put the young ones on a full-size field, either.

 

Here's another article about why this story isn't a story.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2011/0809/Why-a-7-year-old-soccer-prodigy-s-contract-with-Real-Madrid-isn-t-a-big-deal

 

I bet those parents don't even know who Willie Mays is ...

 

Damon Bailey seems like a well adjusted adult who had a VERY good college basketball career. He was an All-American. He's a far cry from Marinovich, although I realize you weren't comparing the two.