Are academies a cash grab? What you're actually paying for and how to tell a quality program from an expensive one.

The facility is impressive. The reception has framed jerseys on the wall. The slide deck on the big screen rolls through highlight clips, players in identical kit, a coach with his arms out shouting instructions. The presenter walks you through the program: four sessions a week, video analysis, mentor pathway. He says the words "elite" and "pathway" eight or nine times. The price is two thousand dollars a term. Eight thousand a year if you do all four. There are six spots left. The decision needs to be made by Friday.