his standstill has favoured young people to look for alternative life pathways. In Portugal, schools of football are playing a relevant part in this shift. Mainly concentrated in the big cities (Lisbon, Oporto), they respond to the training solicitation of an increasing number of young males. At the base of this solicitation is the fact that football has recently been subjected to social reconfiguration and symbolic (re)valorisation, concerning diverse dimensions besides professionalization: criativization, idealization and mediatisation are also drawn in.