YOUTH SYSTEM

'Youth system' is a football (soccer) terminology used to refer to a particular team's youth investment program, which develops and nurtures young (often local) talent, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise. In contrast to most sports in the United States where the collegiate system is responsible for developing young sportspeople, most football clubs take responsibility for developing their own players of the future. Some youth systems are classified as 'football academies'.