What can the Premier League learn from other sports?
The Premier League is a quintessential British creation, just like the self-effacing attitude that binds us Britons. The League has a global following, and showcases “made in UK” excellence. But even the very good should strive to get better. So what can the mandarins running the sport and the league learn from, say, the last World Cup, the Olympics, and, indeed, from all other well-managed professional sports?
1. Get the best players: Currently, the best players don’t play in the EPL. Love it or hate it, the IPL is the biggest T-20 tournament, because the top 30 cricketers in the world all play in it. The best players must be lured to the EPL. England’s performances over the past decade show that the home-grown stars are simply average players when viewed across global talent.
2. Pay attention to grassroots development: With the amount of money floating between the top teams in the league, the amount that trickles down to grass-root development is an unfortunate. Compare this with the NFL in the US, where talent is nurtured from school level: hundreds of spectators turn up for youth games. The best talent earn scholarships to universities where tens of thousands watch games live in person and on television, syndicated across the country.
The graduating class of athletes each year forms the “draft”, from which the professional teams pick their players. The order of drafting is reverse to the order in which the teams finished the last season. Therefore the team that just beat relegation and is on a tight budget gets to pick the best player. This helps in creating a level playing field and a more competitive league.
3. Teamwork: As part of a recent Uefa Pro License training program, a team comprising of players, management staff and officials such as Max Mosley worked with the Mercedes F1 team to learn how to change tyres on a F1 car. In a sport where times are measured in hundredth of a second, every second saved gives the car an advantage. The record time during an actual F1 race stands at 2.31 seconds. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1694500/
The teamwork required to accomplish this is breath taking both in its precision and timing. A crew of 40 working as one entity with one goal shows great teamwork. Everyone that is a part of English football is a stake holder in its continued success. Everyone needs to rise above the self, team, and league goals, and work towards the solitary goal of making the Premier League true to its name.
4. Discipline: It’s no secret that our footie heroes don’t come across well on the cameras, and sometimes in real life, too. Clubs pamper and indulge young men, and there is little accountability for the player, or an effort by the club in training the players in areas like communication skills and socially accepted behaviour. In contrast, almost all professional athletes in the American sports leagues comes across as erudite, polite and media savvy. At the end of the day it affects the overall image of the game.
There is a lot that the Premier League can learn from other global sports. A better sport will draw more fans and that can only be good for the game. Gains from the growth of the sport must be equitably distributed.
