Ep 290: On Players “Playing Up”

The following is an episode on players “playing up” in age.

While it might seem this isn’t a new notion, and it’s simply a matter of whether the player is good enough, there is quite a bit to consider.

Nick and I try to touch on some of those from personal experience.

And by the way, here in the United States, sure there’s always been  players who’ve played up throughout history. You could go back decades and look into the history of pro players having played up.

But, there has been a significant and conscious shift, at scale, the past 10 years or so.

From Federation authorities having pushed it on youth academies, the media then distributing those narratives around playing up, and then as a consequence families of youth players across the country trying to push their youth club team to have their kid play up.

It’s not always the right solution, and should be handled with care.