Latest news with #EPPP
Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Premier League to see ‘exciting period' for homegrown players: Expert
PA Media/dpa London Chelsea's successful end to the season is a sign of what is to come from the Premier League's youth development system, according to a leading sports scientist. The Blues qualified for the Champions League with the lowest average age of starting players in the Premier League era, 24 years and 36 days, and also won the Conference League. The Premier League partnered with sport science company Kitman Labs in October 2023 to launch the Football Intelligence Platform, a centralized hub for performance and medical data which forms a key part of the league's Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP). Academy product Reece James is Chelsea's club captain and another EPPP graduate, Cole Palmer, inspired their Conference League final success. Liverpool, meanwhile, used seven homegrown players in their romp to the Premier League title. Kitman Labs chief executive Stephen Smith told the PA news agency on Monday: 'It's only the last couple of years that we're starting to see kids who have come through a full pathway and been supported by the EPPP. 'Even in the last week, look at Cole Palmer and the role he played in Chelsea's success. We have younger players coming through that are capable of playing at a higher level much earlier, much more consistently. 'I think we're only at the beginning. As we continue to bring players through these pathways, we're going to continue to see homegrown players playing first-team minutes. I think it's a really exciting period for the Premier League and UK football.' Palmer was signed after coming through Manchester City's academy, which ranked second in this year's PA news agency academy study behind Chelsea as they developed their own significant contributors in James, Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill. A total of 20 Chelsea graduates played Premier League football this season, with Tino Livramento, Marc Guehi and Ola Aina surpassing 3,000 minutes for other clubs. The sales of players such as Lewis Hall and Mason Mount, and others outside the Premier League such as AC Milan's on-loan Roma striker Tammy Abraham, has helped fund Chelsea owner Todd Boehly and co's spending spree. 'It's 100% part of the same thing,' said Smith. 'These are interesting stats but alongside that, how many Premier League (academy graduates) are playing first-team minutes in other leagues? Tammy Abraham is not playing in the Premier League any more but he's one of a number of world-class players who have come through the academy system. 'I think that shows you how sustainable the model of investing in the academy system is. It's not just generating players for their first team, it's also generating sales and revenue. 'When you think about the importance of (profit and sustainability rules), having a club that's developing revenue through their academy network that is supporting the first team is a dream for any club.'
BBC News
22-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Dan Burn: Newcastle hero's story shines a light on second chances
Football loves a fairytale ending, and it got one this week from Dan Newcastle defender made his England debut last night, days after scoring the goal that set his side on the way to their first domestic trophy in 70 it wasn't always this way for the was dropped from the club's academy aged 11, drawing comparisons with Jamie Vardy, another player released by a professional team's youth programme. Both kept playing non-league football - in Burn's case, while he was pushing trollies at his local supermarket as a teenager - before battling back to top-flight football. Once upon a time stories like theirs would have seemed like impossible dreams - but is that changing? Former Premier League striker Charlie Austin has seen both sides of the forged a successful pro career after being dropped from an academy, going on to play for Southampton, QPR and West 35 years old, he plays with AFC Totton in the Southern League Premier tells BBC Newsbeat the standard of non-league football has dramatically improved in the 15 years since he was last a part of it."There's a lot of players now that have come up through academies and then not been given the opportunities at full-time level for one reason or another, and dropped down into the non-league," he says."And then, all of a sudden, people are taking a chance on them and they're taking it with both hands."I enjoy it. It's a tough test every time I play." The Premier League launched the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) in the 2012-2013 season in response to concerns there weren't enough homegrown players in the to a report published 10 years later, there were 14,226 players, ranging from under-8s to under-22s, in the academy system during the 2021-22 Premier League says it's an "unavoidable reality" that the majority of those young people will leave academy systems without a professional playing it says 11% of its top-level academy graduates go on to play at least 20 professional league EFL, which represents clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two, say more homegrown academy players are now playing in their say 295 academy-developed players - who played at that club from 16 to 18 - made their first team debut last season. That number went up from 227 the season released from the academy track can be a devastating blow for those that don't make it seems that more players are finding their way back into football in the lower leagues of the game. Journalists Andrew Cooke and Lee Davies, hosts of the Non-League Treatment Room podcast, have been following the scene for the last 10 years. "There's a lot of players being released from academies and they have to find somewhere to play," says Andrew."Non-league is usually where they go."Lee says the pair have had a lot of players on the podcast who started out at academies before being into the non-league world is "one heck of a shock to the system", he agree the standard of games has increased, and there are opportunities to move up."I would say that non-league now is better than ever for a stepping stone back into the full-time game," says Lee. The National League is the fifth tier of English professional football behind the Premier League and three divisions of the EFL.A spokesperson told Newsbeat they don't keep official stats but there have "definitely been more" players moving up from lower leagues in recent player who's followed that path is 28-year-old Josh March, who plays for EFL League Two team Harrogate had a few short spells with academies as a youngster, but ultimately made his way into the professional game, aged 22, via non-league."It's quite a long journey and quite late on really," he says. "You don't really expect to turn pro at that age, and alongside working a full-time job."Josh's team-mate Tom Cursons has an even more remarkable tale. The 23-year-old has never been part of a professional academy, but played part-time while studying sport and exercise science at Nottingham Trent signed for Harrogate after impressing for Ilkeston Town in the seventh tier of English admits that players like himself, Dan Burn and Jamie Vardy are "extreme examples" and it's still not easy to come up through the lower says he was was "one of the only ones, if not the only one" who hadn't been part of a professional academy system at any been a disadvantage on the pitch at times, he says, but is something that's given him other opportunities."I probably wouldn't have had the life experience that I've had of going to uni if I'd done a scholarship, or if I'd had one year pro at 18," he says."So I don't look back with any regret that I never got signed anywhere, because I've made some incredible memories over the last three-and-a-half years."So it's a different path, but I think I've shown that you can still get here." Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How the Premier League has been democratised by the growing spread of academy talent
Player development is analogous to popcorn. Kernels, even when they are cooked all together, under the same conditions, pop at different moments. Footballers are no different. The poster-boy examples of Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa) and Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton & Hove Albion) are exceptional examples of players who rose through the age groups at their boyhood club and are first-team regulars. The rule is that academy graduates often need a move — or multiple — before they find the optimal environment. Advertisement There are caveats, as in some instances the pathway might be blocked and a sale necessary regardless of talent, if their position/role is already filled in the first team. Likewise, in a PSR era where club-trained players (at that club for three years between the ages of 15 and 21) count as 'pure profit', there is a greater incentive to sell graduates. Then there is the reality of physical and mental maturity. The past four full Premier League seasons have seen an increase in minutes to under-21 players, a preference for early developers. Players mature differently, though — and frontal lobes can still develop by 25. Some adapt to first-team environments quickly while others need longer and loan spells. It is why, much in the same way that BMI is flawed (because it does not take into account muscle mass), looking purely at minutes given to club-trained players fails to acknowledge the success of the Premier League academies in developing talent which has flourished elsewhere. According to CIES, a football observatory group, the share of minutes given to academy graduates has dropped each season since 2021-22, from 11.2 per cent that campaign to 6.2 this term. By that metric, academies are regressing. However, Gareth Southgate's England were one of the youngest teams at Euro 2024, and 19 of his 26-man squad were trained at academies following the implementation of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) in 2012-13. England were runners-up, beaten 2-1 by Spain, one of the nations that they looked at for inspiration when they created the EPPP — to restructure academies and develop 'more and better' home-grown players, with the longer-term view of winning a major tournament. Cole Palmer, who equalised for England in the final, is a perfect example of a talented academy player leaving and shining. Wythenshawe-born, Palmer was at City from age eight, captained the under-18s and made 19 first-team appearances across three years. The problem was the lack of demand for No 10s at City: Kevin De Bruyne, Foden and Bernardo Silva, three of the best attacking midfielders in European football, were in his way. Advertisement 'He was asking for two seasons to leave,' Pep Guardiola said of Palmer in April 2024. 'I said, 'No, stay'. What could we do? I didn't give him the minutes that he deserved and wanted, the minutes he now has at Chelsea,' he said. Those with City affiliations may look ruefully on his departure — for which Chelsea paid £42.5million — and how quickly his potential was realised. Last season, Palmer finished second in the league for goals (22, scoring all nine penalties) and was runner-up in the assists chart (11). Jaden Sancho and Tosin, both formerly of City's academy, and Robert Sanchez (Brighton & Hove Albion) are three other graduates Chelsea have bought from other Premier League clubs recently. Consider that this is a club with arguably the finest academy era in Premier League history. Between 2014 and 2019, Chelsea made four out of five consecutive UEFA Youth League finals (the under-19 Champions League equivalent) and won it twice. Then, in 2021, their senior team won the Champions League. A very specific sample shows the volume and spread of academy talent. Putting an age cap at 28 — as players that old would have been 16 when the EPPP launched in 2012 and were entering the professional development phase teams (under-16s to under-18s) — there are 210 players with 900+ minutes in the Premier League this term. Of those, 76, which equates to over one-third, came through the youth ranks of a Premier League (45 players) or EFL (31) club. Just 17 of the 72 homegrown players are still at the club who trained them as youngsters. It means there are over four times as many academy graduates who have left for other Premier League teams. Isolate that just to 'Big Six' clubs, and two-thirds of their graduates (20 of 30) are playing elsewhere. The significance is the positive impact those players have had on raising the level of teams chasing European spots. A gap of five points between fourth place (Chelsea) and 10th (Bournemouth) is the narrowest after 29 gameweeks since 1992-93. Advertisement Liverpool being 12 points clear is a recognition of their strength and stability, while drop-offs from Arsenal and Manchester City and the struggles of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have opened a window of opportunity. The chasing pack have duly seized it. City head coach Pep Guardiola spoke pointedly about this in the pre-match press conference before they beat Newcastle 3-0 in mid-February. 'Who will do 100 points now in modern football? I'm waiting. Or four (Premier League titles) in a row? I'm waiting. 'Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan) won the treble (2022-23), went to Barcelona for one year and came back. Different in just one year? Unbelievably! That's the truth; the teams are much, much better, in all departments, people prepare so well'. Fulham were a team Guardiola cited as evidence for raised levels. Marco Silva's side, in eighth on 45 points, are on track to better the club-record finish of 53 points in 2008-09, when they finished seventh and qualified for the Europa League. Their solution to replacing No 9 Aleksandar Mitrovic, who departed at the end of 2022-23, was two-fold. Raul Jimenez was signed as a like-for-like replacement from Wolves but Silva upped the quality of technicians in midfield. He brought in Emile Smith Rowe permanently and Reiss Nelson on loan, both from Arsenal. Those two, and Hale End graduate Alex Iwobi, who joined Fulham from Everton in summer 2023, make it three former Arsenal outfielders in the side, plus Bernd Leno in goal. Likewise, centre-back Calvin Bassey (age 25) was schooled at Leicester City and central midfielder Andreas Pereira (29) is a Manchester United academy graduate. Left-back Antonee Robinson (27), second-top in the Premier League assists charts this season, came through at Everton. Nottingham Forest are a standout example of a team raising their level by recruiting talent from Premier League clubs. Chelsea graduates Ola Aina and Callum Hudson-Odoi, plus Elanga, are fundamental to their direct attacking style. No 10 and captain Morgan Gibbs-White rose through the age groups at Wolverhampton Wanderers, while the roles of full-back Neco Williams (Liverpool graduate) and Elliot Anderson (Newcastle) have been understated this season. When Forest lost 4-3 at Newcastle last month, 14 of the 22 starters — 10 of whom were 25 or younger — were academy graduates of a Premier League or EFL club. They are listed below, with the relevant players, their ages and the club they came through at. Eddie Howe brought full-backs Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall to Newcastle from Chelsea in the same window last summer, and they have been pivotal in evolving their wide attacking play. Meanwhile, the Bournemouth trio of Marcus Tavernier (Middlesbrough), Lewis Cook (Leeds United) and Antoine Semenyo (Bristol City) have their roots at EFL clubs. Perhaps it is no wonder they suit Andoni Iraola's direct style so well, which has Bournemouth ninth and in the mix for a European spot. In 2022, a 10-year review of the EPPP was published, categorising three 'archetypes' of development pathways. There is the Alexander-Arnold 'fast-tracked' way into the first team; the 'tiered progression' of EFL loans that Harvey Barnes went through before breaking through at West Brom; the third, 'tiered progression,' of which Ollie Watkins is the perfect example but Tavernier and Semenyo have followed too, rising steadily from League One to the Premier League. Advertisement Likewise, Aston Villa have a quartet — Matty Cash (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Rogers (West Brom), Ezri Konsa (Charlton) and Tyrone Mings (Ipswich and Bournemouth) — who have progressed from either the Championship or League One to England's top tier. Academy exemplar Ramsey, who joined the club at age six, broke through in 2018-19 when Villa were in the Championship. The domestic improvements have been reflected, or perhaps proved, at international level. Between 2017 and 2023, England won five youth titles, reached a World Cup semi-final and two Euros finals, and stayed in the top five FIFA spots from October 2018 onwards — their longest stint that high in the rankings since their inception in 1992. At Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022, the Premier League was the best-represented league but also came out top developmentally. Another report from CIES found that 73 players who went to the 2022 World Cup were at Premier League clubs for at least three years between ages 15 and 21 — the most of any league. France's Ligue 1, notorious for its developmental qualities, had a higher number of matches and minutes played by youngsters but had only 'trained' 65 players. In short, I am asking you to reconsider the idea that Liverpool's cantering to a league title reflects poorly on the division. With Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham, Villa and Bournemouth currently occupying sixth through to 10th — all clubs have had spells in the Championship in the past 10 years — there is so much to be said for how much stronger the league is overall. And that owes to academies. (Header photo:)
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Licensing scheme contributing to shortage of psychologists in Nevada, say critics
() Nevada, perpetually ranked one of the worst states in the nation for mental health services, is the only state that requires applicants for licensure as a psychologist to pass a test that is deemed by critics to be racially biased, and was scrapped last year by the national organization that developed it. 'In Nevada we are struggling with mental health support to begin with,' says Dr. Christopher Shewbarran, president of the Nevada Psychological Association. The test in question, the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology Part 2 (EPPP-2) is 'an additional barrier to getting licensed psychologists in our state.' Nevada has 673 licensed psychologists, according to the Nevada Board of Psychological Examiners (NBOP). It's unknown how many are employed full-time. The state has the lowest ranking in the nation (51st) for mental health services for youth, determined by the prevalence of mental illness and low rates of access to care, according to a 2022 study from Mental Health America, a national advocacy organization. Statewide, there is one mental health professional for every 460 residents, and every Nevada county is federally designated as having a mental health provider shortage, according to a separate 2023 study from the UNLV/Brookings Mountain West. Nevada would need 235 mental health professionals to eliminate the shortage designation. In the last three years, the state has approved licenses for an average of 116 new psychologists a year, according to NBOP. The EPPP-2 is designed to measure clinical skills, such as interacting with patients and navigating ethical issues, and is taken by applicants who successfully complete the EPPP, which evaluates knowledge. The EPPP-2 was to become a requirement for licensure in all states beginning in 2026, however, regulators in Georgia and Nevada adopted the requirement in 2019. Last year, the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), which developed the test, issued a statement saying it is putting the requirement on ice. 'In response to ongoing feedback from our membership and the broader professional, educational, and training communities, the Board has decided it is time to shift from conflict to resolution,' the ASPPB board said in a statement. Instead, the ASPPB will 'explore the feasibility of creating a single-session exam that integrates both knowledge and skill assessment.' The decision came after Texas regulators led the fight to eliminate the test, alleging it was racially biased and costly. Georgia regulators reacted to the news by allowing applicants to seek a waiver relieving them of the requirement to take the EPPP-2, however, the Nevada board has taken no action. 'Most applicants apply for licensure by endorsement and are not required to take the EPPP-2,' says Laura Arnold, executive director of the Nevada Board of Psychological Examiners , which regulates psychologists. The board's members declined to be interviewed for this story. In Nevada, the EPPP-2 is required for unlicensed applicants as well as those licensed in other states after November 1, 2020. It costs $450 to $500, on top of the $800 charged for the EPPP. Applicants who take the tests more than once are charged each time. The extra step to licensure places Nevada at a competitive disadvantage with other states, according to critics. 'We do have great schools here in Nevada, with the University of Nevada, Reno and University of Las Vegas training graduate students,' Shewbarran of the NPA said during a phone interview Tuesday. 'But the EPPP-2 has been a barrier for those students considering licensure in Nevada.' According to Shewbarran, a number of post graduates who have completed the requirements for licensure with the exception of passing the EPPP-2, 'have actually taken the exam multiple times, and have chosen to get licensed in another state.' In September, the NBOP reported that since Jan.1, 2000, 72% of applicants for licensure in the state were successful. Of the 28% who were not licensed, 80% did not complete their application, 11% withdrew from the process, and 9% of the applications were denied. Some 150 applicants are in various stages of the licensure process, which takes more than six months on average, according to NDOP board minutes. The duration of the process is unlikely to go down because in 2020 and 2022, the board office 'was not adequately staffed,' executive director Arnold told the board. The requirement places 'an additional burden that other states do not currently have in place, which will likely result in disincentivizing psychologists from pursuing licensure in this state,' Dr. Sam del Castillo wrote to the board in 2023, asking it to reconsider its policy. 'This additional burden effectively limits licensure portability and equivalency across states, which ASPPB has expressed seeking to create more uniform requirements for licensure.' Requiring the exam when it's not a requisite in other states 'is the opposite of creating uniform standards,' del Castillo wrote. The policy could create public confusion and 'perhaps open psychologists to legal liability given that this would essentially nullify their license in the state' until they are able to pass the exam, according to del Castillo. He notes that Gov. Joe Lombardo issued an order directing state boards to suspend the issuance of new regulations in an effort to streamline licensure processes, and says Lombardo 'rightfully points to Nevada as among the most onerous states in terms of licensing requirements.' On Friday, the NBOP, which regulates psychologists, will hear from a representative of the ASPPB. The board declined to discuss the matter with the Current. Psychology is a discipline dominated by white people. In 2019, the American Psychological Association (APA) found about 83% of U.S. psychologists are white, down only slightly from 2009, when 85% were white. Hispanics make up 7% of psychologists, 4% are Asian, and 3% are Black. 'Typically, folks are going to be more likely to seek out a provider' with whom they identify, says Shewbarran of the NPA, noting that lack of racial diversity among clinicians 'is absolutely a barrier' to treatment in urban areas such as Las Vegas and Reno. To achieve racial parity with the state population they serve, 60% of practitioners would be white, 30% Latino, 11% Black, and 10% Asian, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The EPPP and the EPPP-2 widen the gap of disparity by serving 'as gatekeeping tools preventing psychologists of color and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds from accessing the profession they have spent years in training,' del Castillo wrote in public comment to the NDOP in October 2023. A 2009 study reported the percentage of ethnic minority students in doctoral programs was significantly and negatively associated with the EPPP pass rates. In 2019, New York data spanning a quarter of century found that of 4,892 applicants, African American applicants who took the EPPP had a failure rate of 38.5%, Hispanic test takers had a failure rate of 35.6%, and white applicants had a failure rate of 14%. The study, replicated in Connecticut in 2021, found a failure rate of 5.75% among white applicants, 23% among Blacks, and 18.6% among Hispanics. A primary concern with Nevada's early adoption of the test, del Castillo wrote, is 'the dearth of peer-reviewed scientific literature on the validity' of the test, a concern echoed by others. By requiring the EPPP-2, the board 'is creating a problem that doesn't exist,' del Castillo argued, adding 'there is no evidence of an increase in complaints against psychologists, demonstrating that current safeguards are working as intended. Why create additional burdens in the licensure process when there is no issue in quality of care or patient safety?'
