Abstract
This article explores the experiences of acculturation recounted by migrant youth footballers following their migrations to Premier League academies. Whereas problems of acculturation have been documented in research exploring the migratory experiences of senior professional athletes, the framing of migrant youth footballers as a problematic collective in academic, public and media discourse has tended to deflect from consideration of the individual athletes in transition. By drawing on a series of interviews with migrant youth players from a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and their ‘acculturating groups’ (Ward et al., 2001) of academy staff including Directors, Managers, Coaches and Education and Welfare Officers, I aim to explore the prevalent issues of acculturation associated with being at once a migrant, an adolescent, and an elite athlete, adjusting to the demands of an intensive physical training programme whilst encountering and negotiating an unfamiliar social and cultural environment. In conceptualizing the process of acculturation as the experiential facet of the glocalization thesis, the article reflects on the interplay between the distinct political economy within which youth players migrate and their individual experiences of acculturation.
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