Two kinds of also

Two football academies for children train on neighbouring pitches in Manama.

The first is plain about what it is. It sells coaching, it would like to sell as much of it as it can at a good margin, and nothing on its banners says otherwise. Parents know where they stand.

The second has a banner by the gate. It says the academy also gives places to children whose families cannot pay, also keeps its coaches for years, also puts the neighbourhood first.

That small word, also, carries a lot, and it can only mean one of two things.

It might mean the owner has worked out that free places and loyal coaches are how an academy fills its pitches. That is a perfectly good plan. Parents like a place with a heart, good coaches attract good players, a full pitch looks busy. In that case the banner is a description of the business model, and it is fine, as long as nobody dresses it up as a sacrifice.

Or it might mean the owner has decided the money is there to serve the children, and that enough to keep the lights on and the coaches paid is the target, not the most that could be made. That is rarer, and it is remarkable. A small outfit with a clear purpose and just enough margin can change a whole neighbourhood.

What does not work is blurring the two. Hanging the banner because it brings in sign-ups, then quietly dropping the free places in the first bad season.

Parents rarely know which kind of also they are reading. The owner always does. That is who the honesty is for.