Além do campo: um estudo sobre as escolhas e influências do futebol profissional como Projeto de Vida

Abstract

The Integral Education Program (PEI) has been introducing significant changes in schools, such as the implementation of new subjects and mandatory content, such as the “Life Project”, which aims to encourage young people to reflect on their choices for the future, preparing them for challenges and the “Youth Clubs”, whose main point is to provide organization autonomy for them. Within this scenario, many students start to worry about their life projects, with some considering having professional football as such. Given this, the proposed work seeks to analyze the reasons that lead students to have professional football as a Life Project. Could it be the media appeal, the love of playing football or economic and fame issues? The qualitative research involved contact with a PEI school where students who have professional football as a Life Project were enrolled and carrying out semi-structured interviews with the students to identify the motivations for this choice. For this work, six students were interviewed, four girls and two boys, bringing to light three distinct categories, namely: a) Personal motivations and challenges, highlighting the complexity in building a Life Project in football, influencing both sporting development and the formation of a resilient and determined identity; b) Sport and education in life, revealing an interaction between school demands and sporting involvement, where personal organization and Physical Education classes are fundamental for students; c) Professional future in football and beyond, indicating that the journey in professional football is marked by challenges, expectations and choices that impact both careers and life perspectives. In conclusion, the work identifies that the choices for professional football as a Life Project among young people are influenced by personal, family and social factors.