Looking for thoughts on what Region 2 State system is the best, keeping in mind that this is the girls' forum. Not in terms of win/loss but for the entire structure. From tryouts to competitions and Regional team placement. I think I know the answer to my own question, but want to get comments. Looking for the best practices in our Region.
Well I can say with confidence that Kansas is not the top. There are some decent coaches but as a whole it is simply a money maker for the older squads. My daughter is a 94 that made the 93 team last year and went to regional camp in Illinois. She had a great time, but as far as learning anything new, I would say it was not worth the money. Sad part is that it is so political that you have to keep doing it to get noticed at the Regional level. Especially being from Kansas. Problem is that the few really good players that go to regionals from Kansas get lost in the sea of average to poor players that are also selected to participate from Kansas. In my opinion, I would ONLY send the truly gifted players each year and if that means only sending 5 players, so be it. There is such a drop off in skills and ability. Menace, what is your experience in Iowa?
My daughter is a 93 in IL -- and we are new to ODP -- she attended the dev camp in Rockford last July -- and just finished the indoor sessions this past weekend. I'll know more in June when they run the IL camp June 12-15....
Sorry, everyone...... I am not touching this with a ten foot pole. If you want to see my opinions on Iowa, please search for older posts. I promise to not go off again THIS YEAR! I will say that part of the reason I am asking is to figure out where we are going to try out (State-wise). I understand that there are very specific rules on how to be qualified to participate with a particular State, and we are willing to do what it takes to be "qualified". That should give you some insight to my opinions on Iowa's ODP system-- we're looking for a way around them.
This is one of the things Menace and myself disagree on. I think Iowa ODP is on top of it even more so than other states in Region 2. Iowa 90 girls do a bit of traveling to tournaments to prep for Region 2 camp (2 weeks ago, they were the finalist out in Vegas). They have always done this. I do not think IL ODP girls travel as much as the Iowa girls do. I really havent seen any other Region 2 ODP girls teams at other tournaments that I can think of. The last 2 or 3 yrs, Iowa 90 girls always finished in the top 3 at the DeKalb camp tournament. I know our goal is to win out some time in the future. Now in regards to the P word, Im not going to say it does not exist, but like I posted in another thread, every girl that I have seen make the 90 team, should have. What burns me is, we pay the $25 what ever it is to go to the tryouts, and then mid yr, the coaches find a girl that did not tryout and she gets to come to training without paying the $25 fee. This team for the most part has been together for many yrs, we have seen some girls give up ODP, some get upset because they were not picked to go to certain tournaments and quit, and we have seen many new players to the team. Just this yr, we have 4 or 5 new players in our pool. So you see, dont give up on Iowa ODP, sooner or later (Later being better) it will happen. Players will quit, leave for whatever reason and if you keep on training hard, it will happen. Do I think sending your daughters off to DeKalb when they are U12, 13 is right thing to do? I know its expensive, but the pro's are, she is playing with and against the best players (or better players) in the Region. They are learning the process, meeting the coaches, leaving mommy and daddy for the week, dealing with the pressure by themselves. They should not be learning anything new at ODP at this age, the home clubs should be doing that, they arent going to teach them to counter attack at U12, 13 and even 14. No, they are going to show them things they can and should work on back home with the home clubs. At least that is what my daughters Eval always showed, (ask your daughter for the eval after camp, read it, go over it with her if she is willing, show it and discuss it with her club coach) and my daughter worked on this, showing each eval to her club coach. So, as expensive as it is, and your daughter is picked to go with her State ODP team, I would HIGHLY recommend going. For every girl that gets picked, there are 2 girls that would love to take her spot. I know when my daughter came home, she knew the names of the better players and what state they were from. Guess what, they are now all on the same Region 2 team. So it does help. Now, you have to take into account thou, your daughter has to be the one that goes out there and performs, gets in the front of each line, not be afraid to mingle with other girls she doesnt know, if she can juggle 500 times, dont be ashamed to do it and show off. Have fun, meet the coaches. Its a journey. Sorry Menace, I had to say it. I know what you think, and Im reading into what Mr Rat is saying. Rat, My daughters room mates at Boco the last 2 yrs have been girls from KS. This last summer, one of them didnt make it back, but the other one did. She has friends all over from each state. One of the KS girls that went to Houston with Region 2 last summer just came up to visit SSM, and it was nice to know that she knew a girl up there. So you never know where this friendship they made at DeKalb is going to take them in the future. Remember, U12, 13, 14..those yrs we are not playing for the National Championship. Dont rush it. if the player is good and dedicated, it will happen. Trust me Menace.. Just a few days ago on USSOCCER.com, there was a taped interview with 2 girls on the Full National Womens Team that were from region 2..One from MI and the other from IL. They remember the 1st time they met at DeKalb, and how they both came up thru the same system, getting picked for the REgion 2 team, making the U16 Natl team, getting recruited to NCarolina and to Santa Clara, it was a great interview. Wish some of you could of heard and watched it on the telecast. Sorry Im getting windy here...Ill call it a night. Menace, welcome back. I had heard you went back packing with your cowboy friends.
Hmmm...... I went to great lengths to specifically say "and not in a brokeback sort of way"-- but you HAD to take it there. RegII, we have talked personally my current opinion of the situation I have complaints with. I am trying to be neutral, and would like to have my child try out somewhere else to get a completely unbiased opinion. I do think that there has been some progress made on her part (thanks to a KP, EC, SK, MF, and Coach D) and I believe that at some point talent wins out over all of the "P" (as you put it). But, I still think it would be nice to have a second un-biased opinion if at all possible, just to validate one way or another. Maybe not.....I dunno. I just want to know what is out there in the surrounding states.
Well, from what Im hearing, unless your from FCM in WI, dont go there. IL is going to be packed with talent, MO, you might have to travel to StL, Id go with KS, MN or NE. But, think long and hard about this prior to making any off the wall decisions. You still have a few months left. Also, if you know of when your age group might be getting together for training, go and watch. Check the web page for the state camp in Grinnell and go down there and watch, that is close to home for you anyways. Should be in June?? At least get a better feel for the team. Then go from there. Again, I would hate to see you leave the state, you gotta do what you gotta do??
In the Madison area ODP is mostly made up of 56ers. A lot of the other club coaches don't rate ODP that highly. Just my $.02