Josh Kroenke is well acquainted with disillusionment in a sporting context. His age of innocence had ended even before he left high school.
A talented basketball player, he was good enough to play for the University of Missouri, which means he was the equivalent standard of a Premier League academy player.
As the incubator of future pro superstars, American university sport is a big deal. At end-of-season events such as March Madness, Kroenke would play in front of 30,000 spectators.
But his cold shower of brutal reality came even before that, when selected as an 18-year-old to play on a representative team of the best high school seniors which would tour Europe.