But the numbers aren't that encouraging. Of the 60,000 children registered with the National Children's Soccer Organization (ONFI), it is estimated that only about 1,000 will be recruited by the Uruguayan Soccer Association (AUF) or the Interior Soccer Organization (OFI), according to data released by the former president of ONFI, Alfredo Etchandy.
What happens to the dreamers who fell by the wayside?
This phenomenon could be explained by what economists refer to as “external opportunities,” as discussed in the study “Selection biases in sports markets” by Dr. Néstor Gandelman, academic coordinator of Economics at theSchool of Administration and Social Sciences at Universidad ORT Uruguay.
Gandelman spent a few minutes explaining the connection between the economy and sports—two fields that, at first glance, seem very different but ultimately complement each other and together form what is known as the sports economy.
Sports data that can help us understand social issues
As a social science, economics is concerned with all aspects of society. “Just as there are labor economists—who observe, analyze, and theorize about the behavior of the labor market—there is a field within economics dedicated to the sports labor market, also known as sports economics, ”says Gandelman.
What sets this market apart is the availability of observable, objective data. In other words, a researcher can measure a player’s productivity based on the number of minutes played, the number of goals scored, successful and unsuccessful passes, and other indicators.
Education and socioeconomic status: the key to reaching the top flight
One of Gandelman’s studies focused on how a person’s socioeconomic and educational background affects their likelihood of playing in the Uruguayan First Division. “The theoretical model points to a selection bias,” the professor explains.
As an example, Gandelman invites us to consider two boys: one from a lower socioeconomic background with less education, and another from a higher socioeconomic background who is well-educated. Both are beginning to make progress in their respective soccer careers.
The researcher asserts that, along this path, other opportunities constantly arise for the well-educated child: finishing high school, going to college, getting a job, and so on. “If that child stays in the world of soccer, it’s because he’s truly talented—talented enough to make up for all the other opportunities that come his way,” he explains.
Meanwhile, the other child has fewer connections; very few opportunities will come his way, and many of them will be unappealing. “So, even if he’s just an average soccer player, he’ll try to stay in the world of soccer,” the example continues.
“While talent is distributed evenly across socioeconomic levels ex ante, ex post we observe that among the most educated, only the truly talented will enter the sports labor market, whereas among the less educated, there will be many more. A superficial look at the data can lead to the erroneous conclusion that socioeconomic status impacts performance level, when in reality there is a phenomenon of selection bias at the base,” he concludes.
According to the researcher, this suggests that socioeconomic status leads to different selection biases among individuals, influenced by the external opportunities that arise for some children but not for others over the course of their lives.
These biases also apply to education and, in general, to all aspects of life that affect opportunities outside of soccer, the researcher explains.
Bachelor's Degree in Economics: A Range of Tools for Research
“Sometimes students come to my office with all sorts of concerns. We try to show them that economics as a discipline offers them a wide range of tools to apply,” he says.
“Our economists have learned to think in terms of optimization problems. Graduates have learned to put themselves in the shoes of a consumer (of any kind), a company, or any agent making decisions about how to allocate scarce resources to meet multiple needs. This applies to countless areas, and the world of sports is one of them,” says Gandelman.
He also explains how the faculty encourages students to thinkoutside the box.
“We try to tell them, ‘Look, guys, these concepts are incredibly useful.’ They apply not only to traditional fields—such as monetary policy, fiscal policy, and finance—but also to more innovative areas, like analyzing the world of sports, crime, social entrepreneurship, family relationships, and so much more.”