ODP and High School Soccer

CaliSoccer

CaliSoccer

SILVER
For those of you who believe that playing on academy team is the creme de la creme and that ODP is insignificant with high school soccer falling to the bottom of the totem pole here is a look at the 2017 recruiting class for UCLA.

http://www.uclabruins.com/news/2017...a-soccer-signs-standout-recruiting-class.aspx

Handful played for their high schools and also ODP experience.
 
Striker17 said:
I love it when people post things like this and take no account for the fact that GDA doesn't even start until Aug.
Also rocket scientist you could be ECNL and ODP so your post is worthless .
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So what? Point is they listed ODP for a reason for 30% of the list and only ECNL once. My point was people are always quick to bash ODP and high school soccer yet those paths led these player to where they are now! Don't take it personally just an obeservation.
 
CaliSoccer said:
For those of you who believe that playing on academy team is the creme de la creme and that ODP is insignificant with high school soccer falling to the bottom of the totem pole here is a look at the 2017 recruiting class for UCLA.

http://www.uclabruins.com/news/2017...a-soccer-signs-standout-recruiting-class.aspx

Handful played for their high schools and also ODP experience.
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The haters are typically the ones whose kids don't make the team/list/cut. ODP has it's benefits and my DD enjoyed it immensely. She also played on her high school team for the experience of being able to play with her friends.
 
Kicker4Life said:
We see this a lot on the forum. The landscape is changing so fast, people apply old models to future landscape. However it is not to downplay the "experience" that ODP and HS provides.
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I always hear that the landscape is changing and that now the sun is going to rise in the west but weirdly, the more things change the more they remain the same. The top schools are still going to recruit from the YNT not from watered down GDA teams. They will still recruit specific identified players and local players that pass the eyeball test. Two of the three most accomplished college freshman from the SoCal 2016 recruiting class came from outside the usual circles but both played and started on ODP national championship teams.

Don't believe the hype. Believe your eyes.
 
CaliSoccer said:
So what? Point is they listed ODP for a reason for 30% of the list and only ECNL once. My point was people are always quick to bash ODP and high school soccer yet those paths led these player to where they are now! Don't take it personally just an obeservation.
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If all the freshman from the Cal South ODP '98 national championship team had stayed together they would have likely been an Elite 8 team. My player's college coaches said that her performance at the ODP regional championships made her a priority recruit and she wan't even ranked in the top 75 of her recruiting class by TDS but ended up being one of their top ten freshman by the end of the year. Her college just committed a player who has no YNT experience but killed it at the ODP regional championships. My point is they have found great players at ODP and aren't suddenly going to stop looking for players there when it has worked for them every year up to this point.

College coaches aren't into reinventing the wheel and even Anson Dorrance (who coached the US Women's WNT to the inaugural WWC title and also has 23 national championships as a college coach) said that he is going to wait and see how it goes and made a point to emphasize that he doesn't agree with a top down approach to development. He is arguably the greatest women's soccer coach of all time and they are going against him. No surprise that 2016 was the least successful year for the women's side of US soccer.
 
MakeAPlay said:
If all the freshman from the Cal South ODP '98 national championship team had stayed together they would have likely been an Elite 8 team. My player's college coaches said that her performance at the ODP regional championships made her a priority recruit and she wan't even ranked in the top 75 of her recruiting class by TDS but ended up being one of their top ten freshman by the end of the year. Her college just committed a player who has no YNT experience but killed it at the ODP regional championships. My point is they have found great players at ODP and aren't suddenly going to stop looking for players there when it has worked for them every year up to this point.

College coaches aren't into reinventing the wheel and even Anson Dorrance (who coached the US Women's WNT to the inaugural WWC title and also has 23 national championships as a college coach) said that he is going to wait and see how it goes and made a point to emphasize that he doesn't agree with a top down approach to development. He is arguably the greatest women's soccer coach of all time and they are going against him. No surprise that 2016 was the least successful year for the women's side of US soccer.
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Had a great conversation with him a few months ago and i agree with you. One point he made is that Clubs should put their best Coaches at the younger age groups not the olders.

As for your previous rebuttle, my eyes can read the past, view the present but I can not see the future. Until GDA has a few years under its belt, no one knows. You can only speculate.

In regards to "watered down GDA", that statement has zero merit and cannot be applied across all age groups. ECNL WILL be watered down at '03 and '04 and US Soccer hasn't started flexing their muscle at the older age groups. I wouldn't be surprised if US Soccer doesn't "highly recommend" to some of the girls in the current YNT camps that they join a DA team. I do t agree with it, I hope it's not the case, but I don't put anything past those in power from manipulating it.

Peace!!
 
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Kicker4Life said:
Had a great conversation with him a few months ago and i agree one pint he made is that Clubs should put their best Coaches at the younger age groups not the olders.

As for your previous rebuttle, my eyes can read the past, view the present but I can lot see the future. Until GDA has a few years under its belt, no one knows. You can only speculate.

In regards to "watered down GDA", that statement has zero merit and cannot be applied across all age groups. ECNL WILL be watered down at '03 and '04 and US Soccer hasn't started flexing their muscle at the older age groups. I wouldn't be surprised if US Soccer doesn't "highly recommend" to some of the girls in the current YNT camps that they join a DA team. I do t agree with it, I hope it's not the case, but I don't put anything past those in power from manipulating it.

Peace!!
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I agree with Anson that the biggest and most impactful ages for development are prior to the teenage years. I haven't ever heard of US Soccer steering players to a particular team/club but I have seen college coaches do it.

Regarding the GDA being watered down it is simple math. There were 8 ECNL teams in SoCal with another 2-3 that could compete with them. Now you have 13 GAD clubs covering the same geographic area. The only thing that might help it is the overlapping age groups adding a few additional players per team that would have otherwise been in a different age group. We will see if it is a better product on the field.
 
CaliSoccer said:
So what? Point is they listed ODP for a reason for 30% of the list and only ECNL once. My point was people are always quick to bash ODP and high school soccer yet those paths led these player to where they are now! Don't take it personally just an obeservation.
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2 of their announced players were only in the ODP player pool. Both did NOT make the ODP team in their respective birth years. I would say...it was the name brand club and playing ECNL that got them their offers. I would even venture to post....they didn't get much in athletic money, but instead being admitted into UCLA the prize.
 
MakeAPlay said:
Regarding the GDA being watered down it is simple math. There were 8 ECNL teams in SoCal with another 2-3 that could compete with them. Now you have 13 GAD clubs covering the same geographic area. The only thing that might help it is the overlapping age groups adding a few additional players per team that would have otherwise been in a different age group. We will see if it is a better product on the field.
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Again, I don't think the younger side of GDA will be watered down. ECNL blew it by not letting Beach in (yes, I'll take the homer ridicule) but who better than them to cover the gap between RSC and the cluster of 4 ECNL teams in newport/OC? Anyway, I agree it will most likely be diluted at the older ages of GDA.
 
Kicker4Life said:
Again, I don't think the younger side of GDA will be watered down. ECNL blew it by not letting Beach in (yes, I'll take the homer ridicule) but who better than them to cover the gap between RSC and the cluster of 4 ECNL teams in newport/OC? Anyway, I agree it will most likely be diluted at the older ages of GDA.
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Beach has some good coaches handling several of their teams. I think that you misunderstand how ECNL worked when it was founded and through the first two rounds of expansion. Clubs were added based upon their success nationally. All of the original 8 ECNL clubs in SoCal had won a USYS national championship. Beach, Legends, Southbay Force (LA Galaxy Southbay), LA Premier, Albion, Carlsbad Lighting and Pateodores did not win a national title prior to the ECNL teams splitting off. It is as simple as that. The one club that might have a gripe about not getting ECNL in SoCal is Laguna Hills Eclipse. They are the one club that won one prior to the split that was not a member. I am not sure why but I think that they didn't apply for it initially and got left out on the later rounds of expansion due to geography.
 
NoGoal said:
2 of their announced players were only in the ODP player pool. Both did NOT make the ODP team in their respective birth years. I would say...it was the name brand club and playing ECNL that got them their offers. I would even venture to post....they didn't get much in athletic money, but instead being admitted into UCLA the prize.
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I hope that they contribute this year. Orlando or bust!!
 
Kicker4Life said:
Again, I don't think the younger side of GDA will be watered down. ECNL blew it by not letting Beach in (yes, I'll take the homer ridicule) but who better than them to cover the gap between RSC and the cluster of 4 ECNL teams in newport/OC? Anyway, I agree it will most likely be diluted at the older ages of GDA.
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Beach FC HOMER, lol :)
 
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