ODP is a flawed system but at the moment it's the only system available,many many player don't get noticed or are ignored for political reasons.The fairest system is the European way which is to create development academies at Pro-club level and while there are a few starting up here in the States it's got a long way to go.........The clubs take on the expense of training the kids but reap the rewards later if their academy kids get a pro-contact.There are a couple of clubs in Ireland,belvedere and Rockmount that have funded themselves through the residual transfer payment system.It's a smart way to go.
As others have said, it makes a difference which state ODP you're talking about. I play in the same league as Shannbo5150's son, and I know that here in SoCal it is extremely political. I'm not personally in the running, I don't think, so it isn't sour grapes on my part. But much of the selection is political. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: only top clubs can get their kids placed, and only the clubs that get their kids placed are thought of as top. People here have mentioned the names of good players who've been ODP, but that is proof of nothing more than that ODP does sometimes select the best players. Of course they do. But that isn't the political part. The top stars get chosen, the politics comes in to selecting the rest of the team. And that's where, in someplaces, and I think SoCal is notorious for this, politics is everything. I think the only real solution would be to hire outside evaluators to come in and make the selections by watching a several weeks of premier play and tournaments. But ODP is really important for getting a college ride. A guy from an older team in my club moved to Nevada (he had family there) just to get to attend a ODP tryout, (which he made). We don't have tryouts here, and he couldn't have made it anyway. But it takes a really good eye to make such selections anyway, and often the difference between players will be marginal, will vary on how they look any given day, and will vary depending on the evaluator.
lol. i once sat on the side in ohio and watched a kid get picked up who had a broken leg and didn't even try-out
First off, it is very rare that any 2 coaches will agree on a whole team to take for a youth development. 1 might take todays best and the other might take potential. one might take speed, 1 might take ball skill. Examples Local lad brillant on the ball, played in a 18 year old competition as a 15 yr old made the all star team. Got cut from the provincial team for not sticking to his assigned role. moved from centre mid to help winger in an overlap situation crossed team scored. not his job. Was made centre forward came back to his box got the ball ran it back up the field slid the ball to his team mate for a tap in. He was told to stay on the halfway line and never go back, so can't follow rules and has an attitude "he thinks he knows more than the coach". CUT Another coach is teaching no negative passes everything forward nothing back. So cuts the players who pass back to retain possesion, lack of positive belief. Haven't you noticed the nearly every great player in every sport was cut at least once in their career. Its a source of great amusement to show how wrong that coach was. But was that the motivator for the work that made the great player??? I have always said at the end of tryouts we picking a team for "FOR this Season" the team is not made up of any old 18 players its made of Defenders Midfielders, Forwards and Goalies. Each field position is made up of Left, Right and Centres. If we pick you, you have to prove us right, if we don't you have to prove us wrong. Next Try out I will be very happy if those of you I didn't picked this time all came back and proved I was wrong, as that will show you have two of the best abilities, Desire and Self Belief, lets have a good season and hope to see everyone back here next year, bigger, better, faster. At the first team talk I remind the players that there is plenty of players out there wanting their spot, fighting to get on the team next year and they haven't "made it" yet, they still have to work hard and be prepared for the next level. Also helps we have six months to make final cuts and can bring up guest players so a squad of 18 can really be 25 with 7 others coming in putting more competition on current squad members and help out with did we pick right ones? So if your kid is not selected don't quit the sport, ask the coach what can the player do to improve and can you come to watch practises and games to help learn for next time. Final two points 1. some players are not picked because of none soccer skill related attributes. Parents, Attitude, ability to be a team player, work rate etc 2. Some times a coach can not decided and has too take 1 out of two due to numbers. Sucks doesn't.
I do believe you are spot on, but here is the OTHER point which keeps certain kids off of teams....... POLITICS If there is any doubt, please refer to https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135450 Situations like this happen constantly in the US, and the adults need to be adults and not hurt the youth players because they are unhappy with a parent, club, or whatever.
So you know menace..the player is now playing, and the board members have all resigned. He'll be attending the Nike Friendlies with the Crossfire Premier U-18 team even though he plays U-16 for the Crossfire-James team. The players on that particular team when asked by the coach who to add as a guest player for the event all suggested him, because he can play. Sometimes old men on the boards that try to hurt kids chances, pick the wrong kid and the wrong parent, then wonder why they don't have legs to stand on. In the end, he's doing great and his team is undefeated in league play @ 11-0 and more than likely will win their 6th straight state title. Yeah it was difficult for the player, but he never gave up hope justice would be served.
I'm not going to get into the debate regarding ODP; however, I have spent some time recently watching college conference and high school state championship games with an A level coach who has coached at the college level and continues to scout for a local college. it is interesting to listen to his comments and what he sees during the game. He is particularly focused on how the forwards play the game. In a nutshell, he is not concerned with how many goals they score, but how hard they work when their team does not have the ball. In his opinion, this is what defines a top level forward, not statistics on the scoreboard.
Here is one of my favorite articles to those that complain about the ODP process:http://mb3.scout.com/fopsfrm15.showMessage?topicID=25.topic Is there subjectivity in the selection process? Of course there is, but according to this article a player has much more in their control than what he/she may want to admit.
Great article, and I agree. My daughter will persist, and will continue to work hard, and get through the ODP system in Super Y league rather than the State of Iowa. Does anyone think it is coincidence that very few Iowa players/teams show any level of success even at the Region 2 level? Is it possible that our players are that far less skilled than those of the rest of Region 2? There is a reason that Iowa ODP cannot compete against anyone else in Region 2......maybe someone at the National or even Regional level should investigate and make the appropriate changes to the heirarchy here. Either there is #1 there is no talent here, #2 the coaching staff is sub-par and needs revamping or #3 the selection process is flawed and the best players aren't put on the field. My contention is a combination of the three. All of which can begin to be repaired by replacing those at the highest levels.
Our ODP experience. My daughter plays on a Premier team in Florida, one of the top teams in the state. She is a center midfielder. She went to ODP and it was a joke - The "coaches" who selected for her age group (92's) just happened to be trainers from 2 clubs who had alot of girls trying for ODP. They called the girls by name, joked with them and basically ignored the rest. The end result; every girl from those two clubs was selected. 12 girls from those two clubs alone. Some of those girls got chosen because they deserved to be there but the majority got picked because the coaches knew them. Parents on the sidelines were making comments about how blatant the favortism was for those girls. The majority of girls from other clubs that got chosen were those that were marking girls from these two clubs and played well. Other girls were picked based solely on their aggressiveness - it didn't matter if you could actually do anything with the ball once you got it, all that mattered was that you could get the ball. My daughter did not get selected but she doesn't blame the coaches who selected the teams, she blames herself. She didn't perform her best the first day of tryouts and by the second day, even though she played great it was too late. She went to one of the trainings after the original tryout and enjoyed it even though she wasn't selected. She will try again next year and she knows the two things she needs to do; play her best game and make sure she's playing it next to or against one of the girls from those two clubs so the coaches will actually see her play.
Don't become too discouraged, it's still early in the process. Florida is a talent rich state and there are I'm sure many deserving kids who didn't make it. My advice is to persevere. The cream rises to the top. My daughter didn't even try out for Ohio ODP until her junior year and still became a regional player. Bob Collins, a fellow Floridian of yours, has a blueprint for aspiring young players. It is one that I followed to some degree and had remarkable results. May I suggest that you do the same. Try http://www.student-athlete.net/. Good luck.
Don't worry pay out for the best you can and get an invite to the biggest pay packet in the world a US National team. Screw college screw school studies do them IF you get injuried. AND only if the court case does give you enough compensation to sit around on a beach.
What does this post actually mean? Pay out for the best you can, what does that refer to? I'm not an ODP or National team expert so please enlighten me.
Sounds a bit like a drunken rant. Here's some smart advice. "Screw college", and "Screw school studies". Kids: Don't try this at home. With less than .05% of aspiring soccer players actually becoming professionals, one would be wise to make sure that one has an education to put to use. Even if you are part of the minority that does make it, you will one day need the ducation.
Your daughter is just about the same age as my daughter. I'd be happy to have her play for me in Wisconsin. Just send her over and I'll guarantee a fair evaluation. My daughter just started ODP (aged 11) and so far I haven't seen any of the politics. But, that's because for the first 2 years (U-11 & U-12) there are no tryouts. It is purely developmental.
Not only isn't it constructive, it's just plain wrong. ODP is only an identification vehicle. It's not a development vehicle. It's only job is to identify players at the State level, pass them on to the Regional level, and then on to the National level. Is it subjective? Sure it is. Any tryouts are going to be. Do coaches make mistakes when picking players? Yes they do. Why this process is expected to be perfect and fool-proof is beyond me. I've yet to see a perfect player, so why arethe expectations for the coaches any different?
$$$, too? Across the border in Illinois, "purely developmental" ain't cheap. The program charges $20 per hour per kid. The math is: 60 kids for each calendar year (example, '92) = $1200 per age group per hour = $4200 for each month's 3 1/2 hour session. Do that for boys and girls, '92 and '93, and you're talking $16,800 for an event that is held over one weekend on two indoor fields. Wow.
Believe it or not, we play some decent soccer in New Hampshire. Open identification pool for all ages starts each year in November with final team selections April 1. They thin it out as they go. Fee runs around $850 for the year. Girls side is stronger than the boys with some excellent talent and coaching but have seen some politics in the younger groups. Boys side is hurting with most of the top talent sticking to Super Y teams. Several of the top boys from the 90's have given up after 2 years of poor coaching. Couple of kids each year make the region pool but not too many make it to the region team or national pool. Kids you might recongnize: Laura Comeau, U20 nt, Charlie Davies U17 nt. Biggest difficulty facing top talent is finding quality competition with in a days drive.
Update..... my daughter has been asked to participate on a U14 Super Y team (and a pretty good one too) this Summer. Hopefully there she will be exposed to coaches who will look at her for what she can contribute. Remember, she is 12 so just being asked says quite a lot. So, I hope this helps to prove that there is some skill there and not just a dad whining. Also, the club has asked if she would move to the boys' side for better competition to push her. Anyone have thoughts on girls playing on boys sides?
Do it in a heartbeat if she's capable and if the boys' league is good. The boys' game is far superior to the girls game, in every important respect -- that is, technically and tactically. A great learning experience for her. There are very few girls able to compete successful in a good boys' league by age 12. But there are some. However, the door will shut very, very soon, certainly by the U14 year. For example, the U.S. women's national U17 team recently lost two exhibitions to two U14 boys club teams.
I agree with John on this. If she can and your state allows it , do it. I know in washington at the older ages of what are our top leagues it's not allowed. I was actually looking into it for a girl that i believe is capable, but here it's a no go.
We have the option of moving her to U-12 boys or to U-13 or U-14 girls. I think the boys side is better for her than older girls. She will be competing in the Iowa Premier Soccer League, not the best in the Nation by any stretch. However, it is the highest we have here (with the exception of Super Y). There is one other girl in the Menace Academy who plays on the boys side, she plays U-14. She will probably continue to do so, even at 14 she destroys many boys! I do know though, that she is the exception rather than the rule. She is a Region II player and is on her way to Europe to compete. Here is the press release for that player...... http://www.menacesoccer.com/news/?id=6614 My daughter just played futsal with some U-17 boys (decent high school players from a large HS) and was very competitive. She assisted 4 and scored 3 in one game and scored 4 in the second game. She is only 12, but is almost 5' 8" (and not uncoordinated). I know this sounds like just another proud parent (and I am!) boasting, I only post this to let you know that she is not just a figment of my imagination or only talented in my eyes. So, for a kid to produce these offers/numbers don't you think that in an equitible system she would atleast warrant a second tryout for a U-12 girls ODP team? But, like I said earlier....she will perservere and continue to work hard to get better. And, she will get her just rewards in the end. I just still think the system is broken and don't know how to fix it.
I don't understand that, not at all. My son kills '91 ODP girls. Nukes 'em. After 5 minutes, they give up playing soccer and just chop him. But he would have trouble scoring a hat trick in a U17 boys futsal game, unless the U17s backed off him and gave him a lot of space.