I didn't really know whether there was an appropriate thread for this, so mods, if you know of a better place, please move it. Anyway, the below-linked article is a long one but gives several behind the scenes looks at much-hyped soccer youths who never made it. I found it to be rather enlightening, myself never having been in a situation anything close to what they experienced. Dreams to Dust: Life After Football for the Future Stars Who Never Quite Made It
The very first example is of a Spanish guy who made it to the EPL with Sunderland and got £3,000/wk before bonuses. I suppose you could call that not making it...
I read the article and wondered what perils. They describe their lives. Just like any of us we can talk about life's trials and tribulations. Its just under the backdrop of sport and more specifically soccer. No perils here, just life. Interesting none the less.
I was expanding on it a bit inasmuch as many people here like to tout players for future professional glory when they are merely talented youths. That, in my mind, is perilous thinking. I'm not sure hyping kids before they've actually put in the work necessary to reach the next stage of their careers is all that good for many of the kids, either. As the stories showed, there are a lot of steps along the way to reaching one's goal, and there are also plenty of ways to be stopped before reaching the top.
You can type this everyday for the rest of your life and people will still get excited about youth potential. Its human nature. While your right that high expectations in soccer may put an unfair burden on youth but that's just apart of the natural albeit unfair aspects of life. My parents wanted me to be a doctor when I was growing up and guess what, I'm not a doctor. And I'm just fine, just like most of the players in the article. The perils of high expectations.