My son is a 1994 attending ODP regional camp next month. He dreams of being selected for the regional or even national pool. I've heard a lot of conflicting information on what the coaches are looking for -- skill, size, speed, flash, no flash. Anyone have any insight?
We placed 4 kids from our club team onto a '93 Regional team last year. They were all born between January and early March. Two of them were ODP coaches' kids, and a third had a mom who was team manager for a prominent ODP State Coach. Thus, in order of importance - 1) Be born early in the year, and 2) Know people. Otherwise, I didn't see any trends. Some big kids, some little kids, some fast kids, some slow kids, some technical kids, some not terribly technical, some kids who pass well, some who never pass, some who run up & down the field and tackle hard, others who are not terribly aggressive, some who do stepovers, some who do not. Just play your game and hope that somebody likes you.
Just one set of observations at one Regional Camp. Not your camp either. Region II has Kentucky, not Indiana. FYI, to prove my first point, my kid's team destroyed the Kentucky team born in the first half of the year 6-0, but struggled to beat the Kentucky team born in the second half 4-2. My boy said it was no comparison, that the younger Kentucky kids were much better, and that one of the Kentucky Youngers was very good indeed. The Regional guys took a player from the inferior Older team onto the squad, and blew off the superior Younger kid. Solely because of birthday. Your camp might be different. Again, one set of observations.
This was my son's dream 4 years ago. He had zero connections and a summer birthday as well. He considers himself very fortunate to have been a regional team player each of the last 3 years. Tell him not to try to be something that he is not, just relax and be the best he can be. Control the controllable, forget about what cannot be controlled (such as coach's biases).
At this stage, I don't think you really need much more information. You heard the bad story, and you heard the good story. I've talked to a lot of people, and 50/50 feels like about the right ratio. About half of the people who have been through Regional camps feel that the selection process was sensible and fair, the other half that it was political and not really a meritocracy. As for what kind of players they seek, I've heard every possible story. In other words, your kid should play his game and hope for the best. Good luck to him!
Coachability and adaptability: be able to listen and respond to instruction from unfamiliar coaches, and be able to play in unfamiliar positions with unfamiliar teammates. Believe that your son must be doing something right to get as far as he has to this point, so just have him play his game and HAVE FUN. By "have fun" I don't mean goof off or play lazy, but play confidently and competitively. Then let the chips fall where they may, and realize that if he doesn't make it at 12-13 years old there's always 13-14, 14-15, etc. Good luck!
I've told him to have fun and play hard. I don't know enough to give more detailed advice. He is very coachable. He has been disappointed at being placed at center back instead of center mid by his ODP coach, but has grown comfortable in the position even if it is not his preference. He should not be thrown off if he is moved around. He has played everything but GK. I've been curious about positioning. His ODP coach has pegged him as a defender. He hoped for a while that he would get to play midfield, but it's clear that is not in the cards. Do the coaches at regional camp move players around, or put them where their state ODP coaches slot them? Does anyone know how it works? We've received almost no information at all about the camp beyond dates, location, and the no alcohol/no drugs admonition. I've told him the Gabriel Ferrari story. I want him to understand that not getting picked now doesn't mean he has no future. I'd rather he was selected at 14, or 15, or 16 than be selected at 13 and not again thereafter. It's good to see him want something and be willing to work for it. He has the skills and the athleticism, but lacks confidence in himself. As he has gained respect on the club circuit, his confidence has grown. My hope is that ODP builds on that confidence instead of undermining it. Thanks for your input.
Again, this depends. At my kid's Regional Camp, the State teams stayed together and were trained & coached in games by the State coach, so the kids played in their same positions as at State Camp. The State coach wrote the post-camp evaluation, too. But your boy's experience might be different. They don't standardize this kind of thing.
A few years ago, I helped coach an ODP team that we took to regional camp. Moving from the state team to the regional team is both dishonest and honest. The dishonesty was in the evaluation pool selection during the week. What was done was a pool of players were selected each evening and then worked out together with the regional coaches. Instead of being as advertized to the girls that the selections were based on what they did that day, each state coach would advocate for their players and each state would fight for a number of spots each night. It was dishonest, because the coach's based thier opinions on the girls total history and not their current skill level. In our team's case, we had a girl who had vastly improved during the year to the point where I thought she was clearly the best. The two best from the previous years had not developed much, and many on the team passed them by, but the coach was still fighting for them. They were good but others deserved a shot at the regional team. I saw many others from other states going through the same things. The honesty was with the regional coaches. I worked a couple of the evening pools with them, and they were open minded and fair and they worked hard at having the best twenty move on.
Correct. As a friend of mine who has a lifetime Regional player (i.e., selected every year), "You need a sponsor." Getting selected means having a coach who will fight for you. To me, the dishonest part is the implication that the players are selected based on their performance at Regional Camp. Sometimes, that is true. Not often, but sometimes. I know of two players were were State team backups, not valued by their State coaches, but played well and caught the eye of Regional staffers, and became Regional Pool selections. Most of the time, though, the selections are pre-made, in the sense that the coaches know who they like, and the decision-making process is largely one of advocacy, as opposed to performance measurement. There is nothing wrong with this approach, per se, but it's unfair to the kids to imply a strong link between their Regional Camp performance, their evaluations, and the selections, when such a link does not exist. With luck, the new Academy system (which looks to be replacing State & Regional ODP, at least that is the preliminary indication) will be more transparent.
Well, it's not necessarily fair to base the selection purely on regional camp performance. What if a kid (my kid's case) is just coming back from a major injury? He has always been an impact player and barely missed regional pool last year. He is being advocated for this year, but I know he is not yet back to full speed as he is back very early from surgery. He is getting better every day. His coaches know that once he is back to full speed, he certainy deserves a spot. So, that would be based on history.
My son's state coach has told the players that another kid who plays forward is the best player on the state team. This player is very polished and has looked spectacular against weak defenses. However, he has not been able to do anything against a solid defense. He has gained weight as he fills out and looked a lot slower this spring than he did in the fall. Still, I assume the coach will be pulling for him. He does have a fantastic free kick, but he doesn't outrun any defenders. I think there are at least two or three players on the team who are better all round players. Another player made regional camp last year playing up. I looked for him at tryouts and was prepared to be overwhelmed, but just can't see it. At a recent scrimmage, he was stripped of the ball everytime he touched it.
The key is honest coaching evals. The example with the injury is a good one, but I have seen too many coaches rate a 15 year old ODP player based on what she did when she was 12 or a high school coach give a boy a starting position on varsity his junior year for a game he had on the freshmen team. My point is that kids change and grow a lot in their teens. Their skill levels, size, speed and attitude can change. A good coach will recognize that and keep an open mind each year. Too many coaches don't. Heck a good coach should be able to see it during a game. The star may be having a bad day or a lesser player may be having the game of his life, and instead of sticking to the plan, adjust to take advantage of it.
Depends on what the coaches like that are doing those teams. Same is true in college by the way. That is why if a coach leaves a school and the new one likes a different kind of player. Then my friends the hand writting is written on the wall for you at that school. Time to look for a transfer if you think playing is more important then an education your getting there. Then why go to college at all if you want to be a player and nothing else. College will always be there later. ODP the younger you are and make the team the better. Got news for you a player can make one of the youth national teams without even being on ODP. We had two players who were chosen from our team by Alphonse Mondello and never went out for ODP when he coached the US youth National under 14 team.
Unfortunately that is what we see in Region 1. Some of the state people with influence latch on to a player at 11 years old and even though many others have passed him by, still fight tooth and nail to get him on the regional team at 17. The bad part is that some of these people have the influence to actually get average players into regionals because they just will not back down and admit that they missed on determining this "future star" at 12.
The only two State players born in the 2nd half of the year to make the '92 State team are two guys who were Regional players last year, and who were fully grown by their 13th birthday. Nice players, I don't have a problem with them being on State even though they're 5' 4" and that's all they'll ever be, but there's something weird about having to be a strong, short, fully grown 13 year old to get a look the next year, when other players have become bigger and equally effective.
It looks like you live in Eastern Pa. which is widely known throughout the rest of Region 1 for stacking ODP with sons and daughters of club officials, league administrators, state officials, and the favorites of the few coaches who select players there (others do this to but most are not as obvious about it). If you are not connected it has to be even more exasperating to be competiting for the few spots who are not already predetermined before tryouts even begin.
This is the 4th year that I have come back from ODP sub-regioinals on the girls side and I am yet to see a regional staff or state coach with the birthdates for the players or ever talk about when the players were born, unless the players are actually a year younger. I am in Regiona III. The full regional team on the girls side is not formed at the youngest age goup here, but players are identified and selected for a regional coaches choice game.
We know your pain. My son was born in mid October. He is 5'1" and is pushing a big 100lbs. Did I mention he is a 92. Well as you can guess he is the smallest one trying out for the ODP team. We only made one tryout in 06 but made all the tryouts in 07. He made the team. I think the biggest thing was him telling himself he would make the team and then put in a lot of work in 06 to make the 07 team. We have no political backing going in, this was done by him with all his hard work. Never lose hope. Hard work and determination can make a difference.
I see this with a player measuring barely five feet, who has been the same height since U12. Nice feet, good soccer brain, terrific skills. Had a chip on his shoulder about his size which he used to excellent advantage. A defender would look down at him, and would soon realize that he had his hands full. But others have gotten bigger and more skilled, so now he just gets knocked off the ball. State coaches continue to promote the kid.....
Mine is December 22nd 1993. He is a GK, made it the first year he tried out but did not make it last year. So admittedly I am a little biased as any parent on this board, however I will say that the money I spent on that first year of ODP would have been better spent getting him some goalkeeper training. ODP is not the end all and be all as I told him, making it may be the start of your soccer future, but not making it is not the end of your soccer future. Born early in the year and play for a high level (ie high cost) club and you may have a chance especially at the earlier ages. I am still enough of an idealist to want to believe that at the older age groups real talent will not be ignored in favor of connections. My son that one year he was on ODP actually had a trainer tell them at tryouts that if they did not make the ODP team by the time they were 15 they may as well not come back.