by 
Marcia Lewis, the mother of Myles Lewis-Skelly in Arsenal, is not a football family. She did not grow up around sport and did not follow her during the first years of her son’s development in northern London. “I didn’t even know what the Premier League was,” she said.
It is therefore a shock when she received a call from a football agent who wanted to represent her son. Myles was 11 years old at the time. A year later, she received another call, this time from a large sports brand which wanted to discuss a sponsorship agreement.
What is a mother supposed to do in such a situation? What is the right way to deal with an agent? What are the legality and regulations involved? What should she say to Myles? Lewis had no reference point, no easy answers to these questions and nowhere to turn.
“My instinct was that it didn’t feel well,” she said Telegraph Sport. “And I had the impression that there was not really a place where I could go. I did not know anyone in the industry. I had no idea. So I really felt alone. What decisions should we make? »»
Lewis, whose son broke into the first arsenal team this season and was controversial against the wolves on Saturday, finally found the support of some older boys, but she has not forgotten these initial feelings of uncertainty and discomfort. And over time, she met more families who knew similar difficulties. “As parents, we are entering a business that we don’t know,” she says.
Lewis has decided to immerse himself in the world of football. She obtained a master’s degree in football business, qualified as an agent herself and, she said, “listened to Talksport every day”. From there, she then launched No1fan.Club, a community that provides support and education to parents of children in male and female systems.
Talking to Lewis and his colleague Kate Iorpende – whose sons Tom and George are now playing for Huddersfield Town and Ipswich Town respectively – is how many families are desperately needed. Football can be a troubled and confusing world, and this is particularly the case at the academy level, where players are often identified and recruited long before the age of eight.
“ When my son was released, I did not feel prepared ”
Iorpende, who works in education, got involved with No1fan.Club when she was put in contact with Lewis after talking to the parents of Brighton & Hove Albion’s Academy. The two sons of Iorpenda had played for Brighton and she focuses particularly on the process of young players for new clubs after their cowardly.
“When my first son was released from Brighton, I really felt unprepared,” said Iorpende. “The club helps you a point, but you are alone. How do you have conversations with clubs? How do you choose the part of the country to go to? How to answer these questions?
“When the clubs started to call for my son because there was a lot of interest, I just didn’t know how to have these conversations. I felt quite isolated and stressed. After going through this when my second son was released two years later, I was much more assertive. Everything was much more exciting.
Lewis and Iorpende are “related spirits” who both believe that more can be done to prepare the parents and, by extension, the players themselves, for the challenges which are presented by football of the Academy.
These challenges are numerous. In some cases, they are extraordinary. No1fan.club recently met a situation where a young player from the Academy wanted to buy a car with the money he earned from his club, but the parents said no because they wanted to spend it for a car for them -Mee. “This can be very sensitive,” said Lewis, who launched an anonymous investigation for parents in order to better understand the problems faced by families in the world of football.
The other challenges include incentive offers to agencies of agencies or the thorny question of start -up offers. “Most people do not know the decision,” says Lewis. An agent, for example, cannot represent a player in discussions with a club until he was 16 years old. But this same agent can represent this player, at any age, in negotiations with a potential sponsor.
“What you find is an agent of your life, because they helped you with a start -up agreement,” explains Lewis. “You are not stuck legally, but you might very well be stuck in a rather embarrassing position. During these years [before the player turns 16]You have established a relationship and they now expect to represent you. »»
There are also important problems around education: there is an inconsistency between the clubs on the time that the players of the academy pass out of school and what it really looks like.
In addition, the regulatory compensation problems for young players and the small impression of the academy agreements are confusing – and disturbing – for families without experience in the field. Especially in times of change.
“I saw too much parents who want to have a next step after leaving a club, and not getting anything for their child because they did not know what to do,” explains Iorpende. “The biggest challenge is that many people have not thought or prepared for what is happening when it [the journey at one club] ends.
“The lack of resources within girls’ academies is outside the scale”
No1fan.club’s work is not limited to male game. They also work with parents of girls, who are trying to give meaning to the development of women. “The lack of resources within these academies is really out of the scale compared to boys,” explains Lewis, who adds that parents informed it of delicate problems in the game of women linked to puberty and to menstrual cycles, among other difficulties.
Football is a strange business and it can be resistant to change. In some cases, it seems that clubs do not necessarily appreciate the value of more informed parents of the processes involved in the youth game. No1fan.club helps to arm parents with the knowledge and skills necessary to manage life in academic football, but clubs across the country are not always welcoming.
“For some clubs, there is this feeling that they do not want to open the door,” explains Iorpende. “Because everything can be really complicated. But if you work with parents and help them feel safe, confident and control, children will benefit from them. »»
It is very possible that their role as mothers – rather than fathers or agents – leads to more resistance. “There are no mothers who have crossed this trip that do what we do,” explains Lewis. “We are the first. Sometimes being the first makes people uncomfortable.
“You can search for Google” Mothers Agent “and you will always get the negative story of the mother who ruined their son’s career. But that’s just not the truth. We are simply not visible in the industry. Even coaches on the feminine side tend to be men. We are therefore unusual in this direction. »»
No1fan.Club is self -funded and it costs £ 3.99 per month to join their community, which gives access to workshops, experts and other resources. Subscription costs are used to cover the costs of the company, Lewis working up to 17 hours a day on the construction of the platform. “Myles often goes on and asks:” Mom, are you still on your laptop? ” “, She said.
Obviously, it is not a simple job. But the final objective is clear. These mothers want to show that there is a place to go for families who have trouble sailing in the agitated waters of football for young people. The more informed these families, Lewis and Iorpende firmly believe, the best life will be for the next generation of footballers.
The survey No1fan.Club is running until the end of January. Complete it here.
