Maybe you don't have any children. Maybe you do. Do they like football? Maybe. If they do, then there will be no 'maybes' about it, they are going to be begging you to send them to the David Beckham Soccer Academy , which had its official opening in Greenwich (it's next to the Dome) today . This is the Disneyland of football academies, and every young lad or lass that dreams of one day being England captain will be desperate for you to send them there. If you don't have any offspring, then maybe by the time that you do, the star of David won't be shining quite so brightly, and his state-of-the-art facility will no longer be such a hot ticket. Maybe. But if we know anything about David, it is that he is quite adept at marketing himself, so when the time comes that he no longer has a playing career to distract him, he will be able to ensure that his Academy will remain a big attraction for generations of younglings.
So be prepared to fork out the readies, cause it aint going to be cheap. A three day camp will cost you £175 and the full five day camp will set you back £250. Do not, however, get all worked up at the thought of greedy Becks fleecing all the poor parents. This is a commerical venture, most definitely, but this does look like an expensive place to run, what with said state-of-the-art facilities and a well-qualified coaching staff to be paid for. So it could be more of a canny image-builder, rather than a rampant cash cow, and gosh, if we abandon all thoughts of cynicism, this might just be a dream come true for Becks. If you're still feeling grouchy about it though, you might be placated by the fact that he has also promised to send 10,000 kids every year though a one-day school event for free, so perhaps his heart IS in the right place.
We say credit to Becks, as it appears that this is a project that has been carefully planned and realised, and we are sure that thousands of kids are going to have a fantastic time there, year after year. However, it will be interesting to see what kind of effect the lure of Beckham will have on the excellent community work being done in the local area by the likes of Charlton Athletic. So watch this space.
