Nurture, Not Restriction: Protecting young footballers’ rights

Youth football is meant to nurture, not control. The debate over Scotland’s two-year registration rule shows why children’s rights must come first, according to Innes Burns, Participation and Communications Officer at Children in Scotland. 

Youth football is a crucial part of a young person’s development. I speak here from experience, having played right through my childhood.  

I didn’t play at a particularly high level. My lack of pace and, at times, calamitous first touch is perhaps for another blog entry. Thankfully my point here is one that applies to all kids playing football, regardless of ability.  

Football isn’t just good for one’s development in, well, football… it’s a vital part of community engagement, it gives kids purpose and a sense of team spirit. It benefits physical and mental wellbeing. It improves social skills, along with discipline and focus.  

In other words, it nurtures children’s growth and development.  

That’s why the recent statement from the Children & Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS) deserves attention. That word ‘nurture’ is vital here.  

On the 24th September, CYPCS responded to concessions made by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and the SPFL at a parliamentary committee about the treatment of young players within the Club Academy Scotland (CAS) system.  

The SFA and SPFL accepted there were parts of the youth system that needed to change and signalled a willingness to make adjustments. 

CYPCS welcomed such willingness, but released a statement saying this did not go far enough. Their core concerns is the two-year registration rule in the CAS system. They argue that it unfairly restricts children’s freedom, tips power towards clubs and risks breaching children’s rights. In their view, nothing short of scrapping the view will properly protect young players.  

Nick Hobbs, Head of Legal at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, said: “We note the concessions the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) made at the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee yesterday regarding the unfair treatment of child footballers in the Club Academy Scotland (CAS) system. It has been a long and hard-fought road for our office and RealGrassroots to achieve these changes. 

“However, we continue our calls for the abolition of the two-year registration in the CAS system – something the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee demanded back in 2020. 

“We hope MSPs will support us in keeping the pressure on the SFA and the SPFL to remedy this long-running issue which continues to risk the violation of children’s rights to protection from economic exploitation.” 

Why did I stress nurture? Well, football shouldn’t be restrictive for a young person. Their welfare, in my opinion, should always be put first, not the needs of the club. If they feel like they want to move on or take a step back, that decision should not be out of their hands.  

A world where a decision like that is out of their hands at such a crucial time in their development is not one that encourages a young person to grow and thrive to the best of their abilities.  

CYPCS rightly frames the debate more than just football policy. Long commitments to football clubs risks exploitation, a breach of children’s rights, and by doing so would plainly disregard the simple principle that children should have a say in decisions that affect them.  

Protection of this principle is paramount.