With the transfer window open and the rumour mill in overdrive, the summer can be a stressful time for footballers.
Players often face an uncertain period, not knowing if they are on the move or what the future may hold.
No more so is that the case than at youth level, with the summer being when clubs announce their scholarship intake for the new season.
When players in the UK turn 16, they finish their schoolboy terms and sign as a scholar, with the hope being that they land a professional contract a year later.
For those who make the jump from schoolboy to scholar, it is the start of a new phase of their journey. For those who don’t, the summer is spent looking for a new club after being let go.
It is an anxious time, not least because since Brexit the race between top Premier League clubs to sign young British talent is fiercer than ever.
One parent who has experienced the academy journey is Marcia Lewis, whose son Myles Lewis-Skelly plays for Arsenal and is currently on their pre-season tour in the US, and now she is on a mission to help others.
Marcia has launched the platform No1Fan.club, which is an education and reference tool for parents and guardians with children in both academy and grassroots football.
Through blogs, interviews and Q&As, Marcia aims to shed a light on what is to come for parents who, like her, may not be aware at the start.
“Things came to us really early,” Marcia tells Standard Sport. “I remember Myles was 11 when an agent called me about him. Then he was 12 when a brand was asking about boot deals.
“All these things started to come and I thought, this is difficult to navigate and quite tricky. I’ve had a corporate career, I didn’t know anyone in football that you could bounce ideas off and ask for opinions.
“It just struck me that there has got to be another way that we can support each other.”
Marcia’s journey to launching No1Fan.club truly began just after the Covid-19 pandemic, when she studied for a Masters in football business.
Her thesis was around the parent experience in elite academies and for it she spoke to those with children around the ages 15 to 21.
If we can just educate parents better, it will have a positive impact on all aspects of football
What Marcia got was an insight into the struggles some parents had - the pressure points, their lack of knowledge and the emotional toll it took on them.
Some parents spoke about anxiety and stress from trying to navigate the journey, while others revealed it led to arguments and, in extreme cases, even divorce.
Marcia launched No1Fan.club with the aim of aiding others. She is a “giver” and wanted to make a difference. She also took her agency exams while launching the platform, in order to help share this knowledge with others.
“I remember two sets of parents came into my life, completely by accident, and they were willing to have conversations [about the academy journey],” says Marcia.“I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was like talking therapy and it helped because their kids had already been through it. I remember I was quite tearful.
“That was massive and then doing my thesis, and hearing the stories of people - some of which were good and I want to stress it’s not all bad - was overwhelming.”
Marcia’s argument is that football is a business and parents need to understand it. She has interviewed the likes of former QPR boss Chris Ramsey, who also has years of experience working in youth football, for her platform and he gives a “no sugarcoating view” of the landscape.
Others have given an insight too, including agents, sports lawyers, scouts and psychologists. The key isn’t to give advice about what parents should do, as every journey is different, but provide them with some context about what is to come.
“It’s about getting that understanding of it all, having that opportunity to learn more and with the way it has been curated, you do not have to dig too deep to hear a useful bitesize bit of content,” Marcia says.
“If we can just educate parents better, it will have a positive impact on all aspects of football.”
