Dubai ‘activations’ + Thierry Henry etc and the sporting dad

Morning all.

Sorry it’s a bit later than usual, but I slept right through my alarm this morning. Like many, I’m trying to live bit healthier in January, but I wasn’t expecting a consequence of that to sleep much more deeply. Maybe I’m catching up on some Zs I missed out on in December.

There’s not much happening from an Arsenal perspective. The club announced the trip to Dubai yesterday for the first team, ‘allowing them time to intensify their training sessions in the sunnier climate.’

They also said, ‘The squad will also participate in several activations with club partners’, so if you’re ready to see a few lads dressed as an Emirates pilots and the launch of 14 new Adidas clothing ranges, I suspect you’ll be in luck. As I outlined yesterday though, there’s plenty for Mikel Arteta and his staff to work on with this group of players, and I’m sure despite ‘activations’ where the synergy of brand awareness and retrofitting thought-leader  engagement for the mini-millennial demographic is crucial for viral amplification, that will be the case.

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I haven’t yet had a chance to listen to the new Thierry Henry podcast in which he details periods of depression in his life, primarily stemming from having a father whose approval he could never gain. I did listen to him talk to Gary Lineker et al on the Rest is Football podcast where he touched on a lot of the same subject matter.

We had a bit of a discussion about this on the Arses yesterday, and ultimately it’s an illustration that despite the kind of career and success that most people can only dream of, you’re not immune from mental health issues. Yes, someone like Thierry Henry is fortunate in that they have the resources to potentially help them that most normal people don’t, but when it comes right down it, depression can affect anyone.

World Cup Winner. Best Player in the World. Arsenal’s Leading Goalscorer of All Time. Premier League Winner. FA Cup Winner. Double Winner. Invincible. Rich. Famous. Handsome. A Life of Luxury in London, Barcelona, then New York.

None of it offsets what you really feel inside, and it does seem as if Henry’s father, and the way he pushed him from a very early age, is the root of his issues. He’s far from alone either. You can think of plenty of successful sports people who have had similar upbringings, where their father’s overbearing, and at times cruel, behaviour can drive them forward but ultimately they pay a price for it.

Tiger Woods. The Williams Sisters. Andre Agassi (I was chatting to Andrew Allen about him this week too, and if you can pick up a copy of his biography I really recommend it. It’s one of the best sports books ever written, in my opinion). Even David Beckham – I watched the Netflix doc recently (which is mostly more enjoyable than you think it’s going to be), and his dad was the same. Always pushing, always criticising, almost never giving the praise that his son craved. As with Henry.

I guess it’s not unusual for parents to try and live vicariously through their children, particularly when it comes to sports. I’m sure across all the many and varied top level sporting careers a kid can choose/be pushed into, there are dozens and dozens of stories like Henry’s, and the others I’ve mentioned. To achieve success at the top of any game requires dedication, but it seems many cross a line that goes way beyond that. There’s little in the way of encouragement, it’s far more stick than carrot. These kids are conditioned into a life where they push themselves as far as they can, desperate for the one thing they can never achieve: parental approval.

Then I thought about how few make it to the top, and how many father son/daughter (because it’s usually the father) relationships have been destroyed because the kid never had the talent, or never had the ability to go that far. Or the ones who had the talent but needed the arm around the shoulder rather than the constant kick up the arse. It’s kinda sad, and I do feel in many ways that people like Henry, Agassi etc, achieved their success far more because of their incredible talent than anything else. They made it in spite of that treatment from their parent, rather than because of it.

I had a great relationship with my dad, but there was a time when I was a teenager when he really wanted me to play rugby, and I absolutely did not. I think I was a pretty decent footballer, but my response to his desire for me to eschew the round ball for the oval one was to down tools completely and not play anything. Except drinking cans and cider in Bushy Park with my mates. I should have just kept playing soccer, but what do any of us really know as teenagers? You’re lucky if you’re that age and you absolutely have the strength of your convictions.

For most of us, sport is only ever going to be a pastime, it should be fun, something to be enjoyed rather than something which causes an existential dread because you haven’t scored a hat-trick for your Under 12s team on a Saturday, or you’ve hit a few too many second serves into the net.

And as Thierry has demonstrated, even if you make it, even if you win everything there is, earn all the money you can, and enjoy the love and adulation of people who see you as a genuine hero, there’s still something missing.

Anyway, sorry for the slightly heavy shit this morning, but there you go! Have a great Wednesday folks.

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