No Hunger in Paradise: The Players. The Journey. The Dream

Only 180 of the 1.5 million boys who play organized youth soccer in England will become a Premier League pro—a success rate of 0.012%. How and why do the favored few make it? Who should they trust—the coach, the agent or their parents? Michael Calvin provides the answers on a journey from non-league grounds to hermetically sealed Premier League palaces, via gang-controlled housing estates and the England team’s inner sanctum. He interviews decision makers, behavioral specialists, agents, and leading coaches. He exposes bullying and a black economy in which children are commodities, but remains true to the dream.