The fact that they volunteer doesn't stop it from being a scam or an exploitation. Especially when you consider that they're being talked into it at 16, 17 years old and their parents often don't have all the facts.

It can be your dream to play, but in many cases it's about trading 5 years of "living the dream" for a reduced quality of life, for the rest of their lives. Job prospects, marketable skills, physical and even mental health. The current system offers kids the chance to live their dream, yeah, but in doing so it runs them through the mill and tosses them out the other side.

Not true in all cases or for all sports, but true in football far too often.