The aim of the study was to examine if parental support could predict elite academy participation in an adolescent football population. The participants were 767 adolescent male football players, where 443 represented an academy team and 324 represented lower ranked teams, in age between 11 and 18. The participants were classified into three groups; a) children (11-12 years), b) youth (13-15 years) and c) junior (16-18 years). The questionnaire used was the Swedish health survey developed by the Swedish Health Institute with a number of football specific items added. Parental support was measured with six items that all measured emotional support (for example if the player experience that his parents understand, listen to, and treat him fair).One way ANOVA showed that academy players reported significant higher level of parental support then the non–academy players in children (F(1, 196)= 7,071, p = 0,008) and junior ages (F(1,194) = 10,830, p = 0,001). A logistic regression showed that parental support predicted approximately 68% of the players belonging accurate both in the children- (68,2%) and junior (67,9%) sample.The result supports previous findings showing that adaptive coping resources, such as social support seeking, could predict athletic success (Yperen, 2009). One recommendation for football clubs with youth academies is to involve parents in the social support network in order to give the players more adaptive coping resources. Further, educating parents about demands and career transitions that the players are exposed to in an elite academy could be beneficial in a developmental perspective.