Supporting talent on and off the football pitch: shared educational responsibility between families and football clubs as a pedagogical foundation for the educational community

Abstract

The paper explores the educational value of youth football in Italy, starting from the sport’s recent recognition in the Italian Constitution (Art. 33). The authors propose moving beyond the notion of talent as an innate and precocious gift, defining it instead as a dynamic process influenced by football intelligence, training and environmental context. At the heart of this reflection is the need for shared educational responsibility between football academies and families: parents should not be seen merely as spectators or ‘supporters’, but as active partners who ensure young athletes grow in a healthy environment, free from excessive pressure and oriented towards the individual’s holistic development. Through the concept of the ‘pedagogy of possibility’, the paper invites sports clubs to build local networks in order to transform the playing field into a laboratory of educational and civic justice.