Got it!! All I saw was Rat..Sorry.... yes, full time SOCCER resident program. There is a 8th grader up there now on the team. Full Size indoor Soccer Dome. Most D-I programs would love this. Weight training twice a week either prior to training or right after training, full time trainer, the school/classes its self is very tough as well. The kids that go to this school will NOT be like your avg college freshman. They will be prepared. Each student gets there own laptop, to do homework when they are away at tournaments etc, 2 natl players on the girls side right now, the recruiting base starts at State ODP level and above. Dont let the 30K amount scare you, there is scholarship $. Top Notch program. and only 5-6 hrs from KC area. All I can say right now is word is starting to get out on this program. Coaches all all tops. The girls train 5 days a week, and they have been playing top level matches every weekend all winter so far. Just a example, they have had the 90 ODP teams from WI, IL, Iowa, MN and the 91 ODP teams in there this winter for friendlies. I will find you for JFG and forward you some fliers. It will remind you of Hogwarts in Harry Potter movies...
Harry Potter? My daughter will love it!! Honestly, it does sound quite interesting. Is it modeled after a particular program or just something new that has been developed? Are there tryouts for admission? It is all very new to me, but if we are talking about developing the best of the best, sounds like the right direction? Anyone else heard of similiar programs?
this is the 1st yr for the soccer program. The top coach use to be in charge of US Youth Soccer Director of Coaching, Coach Carter. If you have topdrawersoccer.com go to article 2 and read about it..better yet, I will send you a PM with it....There are NO tryouts, right now its by word of mouth, and recruiting. Starting with State ODP level. I know that Coach has sent out fliers to alot of Region 2 & Region 1 ODP Girls.
SSM is making improvements on the girl's side- however, when I've watched them they have not been dominant over the competition as their boy's team has. They really have a great set-up for training and games. For boys, I expect it will become second only to Bradenton Residency in terms of soccer quality. For girls, I expect it will become one of a kind in the country.
SSM sounds cool...maybe we should fire up a new thread for it? How about 93/94 tournaments for the Spring? In Region 2, here are a few -- anyone attending? Border Battle NSR CUP Just For Girls Spring BOMW
Hello Mr. LNut, when was the last time you watched the girls play?? They just beat a U17 team last Sunday 6-0 with the majority of SSM as U15's. I agree, the girls are not as dominant as the boys (yet), but since Jan they have gone 17-1-2. Improving for sure!! The girls have become very offensive in the last few months. They tied the IL 90 ODP team 2-2. Not to bad if you ask me..and beat both the IL 91 A&B teams. Do you have a son in the program??
Of course they have improved offensively, your daughter joined the team. I am saying this in all seriousness. Any time you get a National team CM joining the team, it is going to improve your ability to control the pace of the game and link the front to the back. I saw your daughter play with them and in all honesty....she looked frustrated. Wouldn't it make just as much sense for her to train with Eclipse year-round? Better teammates to push her and she is away at school any way. (Just random ponderings.) The rest of the team is not at all good. Average at best. I take that back, the GKs are quality. They will most likely being losing the U16 National GK though as she will be moving back home. It seems that she is entirely burnt out from the experience. Makes you wonder how many of the kids will get burnt out in college. Instead of 4-5 years of an intense year-round environment (which is just enough for most D1 athletes), they will GOING ON their 4-5 year when entering college. As for the program, yes the facilities are nice. They are excellent salespeople as well. I don't think much of a commitment lies on the girl's side. Carter and DL will be dealing almost exclusively with the boys in the near future. Makes sense in all honesty, boys have a professional league as a carrot in front of them to pay back on their investment. Most girls may play in college, some D1, and even less with a scholarship amounting to equal or more of what they paid into SSM....and the very special will get a find themselves with the full USWNT. But at the end of the day, everyone needs to do what makes more sense for them. Different roads lead to common destinations...options are a good thing. Best of luck to all.
WoW, at best your almost correct in everything you had to say. I just sent you a PM, hope to chat w/you soon.
No, I don't have a son at SSM- but they've made a number of contacts with him, and as I said, it's very impressive. I last watched the girls in November, and have heard from people there, they are making big improvements. Among others, the girl's GK stands out.
We will be attending the Just for Girls in Des Moines. Also, the West Des Moines Friendship tourney. Looks like the Border Battle in Jefferson City will be a really good spring warmup for some really good teams. Eclipse will be there along with NOKC Red, Scream from KC, Toro Bravo from NE, and the Wolfpack from St. Louis. Have not heard much about the Spring BOMW. Does the Spring tourney bring out as many good teams as the Fall?
Anyone know of anyone who has attended (or will attend) the IL ODP Development camp this June? Good? Bad? How is it run? Is it similar to the ODP training sessions? Thx
Well, well, well....... I drop off the face of the Earth for a while and see what happens? Thanks to the powers that be for the sub-forum. This is an interesting topic, I have caught up with it.... I think. We (Menace U14s) played against a KC Rush team in the Championship Game at the Heritage (is that right?) in the Fall. They were a good team, we had a tough time but ended up on the right side of the score. When it comes to 92s, that KCFC Alliance team is pretty tough to beat. They whooped up on us a couple of seasons ago. As far as SYL goes, I am completely disgusted with that whole situation. As RegII alluded to, the Menace girls' side was shut out. They let the boys in, but not the girls. Any insight that anyone can shed on this would be great. We got a letter from the Menace DOC letting us know that we would not be competing this year either in SYL, and it really is a let down. I thought they wanted to grow the league and get the best teams in? Well, I guess maybe they changed thier goals. Now it is "let the best teams in, but don't jeopardize a potential winning season for certain large clubs"? I frankly don't understand it.
How does everyone feel about summer tournaments? Is this typically a time of year to unwind from league play, concentrate on tryouts, do camps, etc? This year we are thinking of attending a couple of summer team tournaments to stay in shape during the summer. We are looking at the Colorado Rush tourney in June, and possibly some others. What is everyone else doing over the summer? Any other tournaments out there worth looking into?
I know summer gets tough for a lot of teams -- as they run through tryouts and then try and firm up rosters....and as they get older, Regionals take place in June -- and if you are lucky enough, you head to Nationals in July....that gets you into August when tournaments get rolling again. I know NSR ran a tournament in MI last year -- the last weekend in July...
Due to dual rostering which is allowed in my state, my U13 daughter has played in short sided formats while also playing full field since U10. At U10 she was playing 7 v 7 on a D1 town team while playing 11 v 11 on a U11 premier team. The next year the town team moved to full field as a U11/U12 team, but we had also moved her to a club program specifically geared toward technical development that played in a privately run 8 v 8 league. At U12 she played with that same club's U13 team which was playing in a full sided league, but during the winter months, the club moved into a facility where they played in a 9 v 9 non-boarded league. This year she is playing age appropriate full field in the state premier league, but all winter long her team has competed indoors in 7 v 7, 8 v 8 and full field non-boarded soccer facilities. All training has been based on 4 v 4. My daughter and her teammates who have played the short sided format can play any format on any size field. I've seen plenty of premier teams in this state that can not and most of them also think playing U12's on anything but a full field would be a joke.
My daughters U14 team is heading to the USA Cup mid July in Minneapolis for 5 days. They shortened the format from a week, with a game a day, to 5 days with one game a day for the first three days and the Cup style playoff's on Sat and Sun. The girls are really excited about it but I can't say that the parents are all enthused! But we will all be on the soccer fields when the time comes. (and at the Mall!)
Just a quick note- here in central IL, u12s have no problem playing 11v11 on the big field. I have a 94 daughter who plays goalie and the bigger field allows her to keep the ball in play (not just punting the ball back to the other goalie) and allows her to move her defense up and collaspe the field. We only go to tournaments that play 11v11. After we play our home tournament (SFC Mid-America Cup), we will probably go to Champaign in May and Muscatine in June. Just my thoughts on the matter. Great having a girls sub-forum!!!
The better youth teams that I see playing either 8 v 8 or 11 v 11 at U12 are probably not having their keepers punt the ball on a regular basis. The perference seems to be to distribute the ball by rolling it out to one of their backs. This is another good reason for the small sided format since it forces the keeper to play that style of soccer or they will in fact often punt the ball to the other keeper. This helps the keepers learn to read the field better. It also forces the defense to develop their footskills under pressure.
For reasons that I have still not figured out, the boys teams pretty much always punt. Strange. If the left back has the ball with space, he doesn't send it to the keeper so that the keeper can give it a big whack. Instead, the left back plays soccer. So if the keeper has the ball and the left back is open, why is the opposite play made? Why would the keeper boot the ball in that situation, but not in the first situation? Blame it on the English, I say.
I still stick with the bigger field and 11v11 for the higher end U12 teams -- by that age, they have enough leg strength and are starting to understand the spacial part of the game -- ie, there is more to develop (the all time overused word on these boards) than just footskills (which is generally learned in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 in practice for hours) -- again, I say only the top U12 teams should probably be doing the full field. Another aspect forgotten on the 8v8 game -- I see too many teams with 1 or 2 dominate players running left to right front to back -- playing the whole field and doing everything for their team. That can hold back "development" for many players on the team, looking a lot like the ealy Jordan days of the Bulls -- a bunch of players standing around watching 1 player do everything... I know, I know -- small sided is the way to go -- I just say that practice is great place to get all that small sided work in...
You just described my daughter No really, so what you are saying is, 3v3 is good then?? Being from the 3v3 talent rich part of the country and all...