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Abstract
The objective of this article is to analyse the system of top-flight youth football in Germany, its main institutions – the Academies (Nachwuchsleistungszentren) and the Elite Schools of Football (Eliteschulen des Fußballs) – and the relationship between them. The analytical focus centres on examining the ways in which quasi-professional youth football and the German educational system have cooperated in recent years. Special emphasis will be placed on the reconstruction and professionalization processes in the context of a perceived crisis in German football generally dating from the late twentieth century. It will be argued that the idea of crisis appears to be of systemic value for the social world of football in Germany. In the world of football, constant reference to crisis helps to create shared meaning among and between groups whose interests do not necessarily coincide, lending support to the argument that the idea of a crisis is important in facilitating action and change. The analysis will be underpinned by a case study focusing on the youth section of German Bundesliga club FSV Mainz 05 and one of its partner schools. Different perspectives on cooperation will be explored with a focus on the various perspectives of actors involved, drawing especially on qualitative and ethnographic interviews and fieldwork carried out in 2018 and 2019.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 The author of this article took part in a coaching course (UEFA B Licence) organized by a regional association (Südwestdeutscher Fußballverband – South Western German Football Association). Mainz 05 is considered to be the leading club in this region alongside former Bundesliga club 1.FC Kaiserslautern. Notes of match and training observations and audio-files in possession of the author.
2 And as Luckmann (Citation1978, 285) asserts: “Usually ‘man’ chooses one social world as nucleus around which his other life-worlds can be arranged”.
3 Indeed, Strauss suggested that, instead of talking about “the social world” we should think of the everyday life of modern societies as being segmented into numerous “social worlds” (Zifonun and Naglo Citation2019, 65).
4 “Prior to the Bosman judgement, transfers could only occur if both the selling and purchasing club were in agreement and had set a transfer fee, irrespective of whether the player in question was out-of-contract. Bosman’s case came about as a consequence of his prevented transfer between Belgian club R.C. Liege and French club US Dunkerque. It collapsed because the quota of foreign players at the French club was already full. Bosman argued that the transfer rules imposed by the Belgian Football Association, UEFA, and FIFA disabled the free movement of European workers. Therefore, in order for these rules to be brought into line with other EU policies on migration, the existing system would have to be amended” (Elliott Citation2014, 165).
5 This list can e.g. be extended with reference to the World Cup finals of 1994 and the founding of the Major League Soccer in 1996 as indicators of a new perception of the game in the USA (cf. Redhead Citation1997; Markovits and Rensmann Citation2010; Wangerin Citation2006).
6 For an encompassing definition of crisis communication as an ongoing process of creating shared meaning among and between groups, and the idea to primarily understand crisis as an element to force action, see Sellnow and Seeger (Citation2013).
7 In this context, the relaxed and competent appearance of then Mainz 05 coach Jürgen Klopp in German television during the World Cup 2006 has to be mentioned, as he introduced a fresh new style of football commentary combining competent analysis with fun.
8 After re-unification, the educational system sought new structures to serve the needs of elite sport in Germany. Based on the sport schools for children and adolescents (Kinder- und Jugendsportschulen, KJS) in the former German Democratic Republic, more than 100 projects where schools cooperate with the system of elite sport were introduced. 38 of these projects were awarded the title of Eliteschule des Sports (Elite schools of sport) by the German Olympic Sports Confederation after meeting specific criteria. This is comparable to the Specialist Schools Programme in the UK (Cf. Digel and Burk Citation2004).
9 This and the following sections are informed by participant observations during a UEFA B licence coaching course and various interviews conducted with the leading personnel of the Mainz 05 academy as well as other academies and involved persons in 2018. Audio-files and notes are in possession of the author.
10 See https://www.dfb.de/sportl-strukturen/talentfoerderung/leistungszentren/ (Accessed 16 May 2019). Critique regarding the evaluation process was expressed in an ethnographic interview by the head of an academy, the main point of criticism being that the evaluation by the DFB would lead to a homogenization of ideas and approaches and that it is rather not based on day-to-day experiences at the clubs. In this sense the process of evaluation is comparable to the ones carried out at German universities with regards to courses of studies.
11 https://www.dfb.de/sportl-strukturen/talentfoerderung/talentfoerderprogramm/ (Accessed 16 May 2019).
12 https://www.dfb.de/sportl-strukturen/talentfoerderung/eliteschulen-des-fussballs/ (Accessed 16 May 2019).
13 https://www.dfb.de/sportliches-leitbild/unser-weg/ (Accessed 29 October 2019).
14 Voiced in an interview by a head of an academy from a Bundesliga club. Usually, players at the age of 15 employ their own agent. Agents in turn claim to advise players, football clubs, leagues and (con)federations on optimising their talent development.
15 Those involved in the youth football of high standard amateur clubs like to speak of ‘human trafficking’, as they provide the academies with talented players.
16 From a talk given on the systematic support of talents in Germany during a coaching course.
17 In German the term used is Leistung. However, Leistung lacks a conceptual clarity, which renders a precise translation into the English language difficult. Achievement, for instance, includes success in contrast to performance. The latter mainly focusses on practices which is why it is preferred in this text; terms like effort and activity are also related to practices. Other options are power, output and demand. However, these concepts stress the physical and technical side of football. Last but not least there is efficiency as a kind of a catch-all term, comprising elements such as prowess, viability, capability, impact or benefit (Verheyen Citation2019, 127f).
18 Verein is the German term for Club. The word is derived from the verb ‘vereinen’ or ‘eins werden’, meaning to bring the individual person together with other like-minded people, and the noun ‘Verein’ designates a legally constituted grouping of individuals sharing a common purpose, pastime, or passion. Their emergence was historically crucial for the emancipation of the middle classes, for early forms of working-class organization, and for women seeking equal rights. The predecessors of the sports club in Germany were guilds and religious fraternities. However, in contrast to the clubs established later, these were incorporated into the traditional order of the ancien regime, exclusively defined by birth and social status. The demise of this traditional order by the end of the eighteenth century made way for voluntary associations of like-minded persons. This signified a manifestation of a new principle of community formation and association, described in German as Vereinsbildung, or club formation. These newly founded clubs have been described as signifiers of modernity, a very important aspect and symbol of the ‘de-corporation’ of the traditional order in the German context (cf. Naglo Citation2018).
19 See https://www.mainz05.de/verein/chronik (Accessed: 27 May 2019).
20 For instance in an article from a magazine published by the academy of the club. ‘Am Bruchweg. Das Saisonmagazin 2017/2018’: 26–29.
21 IGS (‘Integrative Gesamtschule’) stands for comprehensive school which means that students can obtain different levels of school qualification. This makes the school particularly attractive as partner for the football club as it is able to admit students of different social backgrounds.
22 https://www.mainz05.de/nachwuchs/schul-und-ausbildungskooperationen/ (Accessed 16 May 2019).
23 See https://www.igsmz.net/unsere-schule/schwerpunkte/sport (Accessed 2 June 2019).
24 Interview with the person responsible for educational matters (February 2019).
25 See ‘Am Bruchweg. Das Saisonmagazin 2017/2018’: 26–29.
26 See ‘Am Bruchweg. Das Saisonmagazin 2017/2018’: 26–29.
27 See https://www.igsmz.net/unsere-schule/schwerpunkte/sport (Accessed 2 June 2019).