2018 ODP West Schedule is out.

YNWA 96 said:
ODP is not free, there is a cost to tryout for ODP $100 or so. Once you are selected for the final team then there is no cost for the kids to play. Grant it, it is a fraction of what it cost to play club soccer.
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Yes, what's another hundred or 2 on top of 3 or 4 grand? It will almost buy a pair of cleats.
 
A few hundred bucks to be able to tell people that your 12 year old is part of the US Olympic Soccer program is a pretty good deal. I bet you could sell her autograph at cocktail parties.
 
LASTMAN14 said:
It's also a DA rule.
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It’s also a stupid rule. See the current Olympic Girls Gymnatics team for a real Big reason why a teenage girl should not be alone in a hotel or a room without their parents being present. Yeah chaperones are great and I’m sure the coaches are fantastic, and I’m also sure there has never been an issue... ever. But that’s also what every parent of those girls thought as well. I just don’t understand why it is necessary. Other than some BS control thing by ego driven associations. I got a girl in college now and on this seasons road trips we stayed in the team hotel. Even ate dinner with assoc AD.
 
Nutmeg said:
It’s also a stupid rule. See the current Olympic Girls Gymnatics team for a real Big reason why a teenage girl should not be alone in a hotel or a room without their parents being present. Yeah chaperones are great and I’m sure the coaches are fantastic, and I’m also sure there has never been an issue... ever. But that’s also what every parent of those girls thought as well. I just don’t understand why it is necessary. Other than some BS control thing by ego driven associations. I got a girl in college now and on this seasons road trips we stayed in the team hotel. Even ate dinner with assoc AD.
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Ok.
 
timbuck said:
A few hundred bucks to be able to tell people that your 12 year old is part of the US Olympic Soccer program is a pretty good deal. I bet you could sell her autograph at cocktail parties.
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It is worth every penny to watch your kid compete in ODP, whether they like it or not.
The parents at these events seem to be pretty excited.
 
My daughter chose to do ODP this year since it’s her last chance befor academy starts. It was $125 to register, a little over $200 for required gear (jacket, pants, shirts, backpack) and $1000 for Arizona (flight, hotel, transport and food). We’ll spend another $900 or so going to watch her. She’s with Cal North. A few of the strongest players in NorCal tried out for ODP. Most did not. I’m hoping the other states are well enough represented that the competition is worthwhile. We looked at is as a chance for her to meet and play with some new girls, and have fun traveling and playing against players from all over. So far she’s having fun and learning from her ODP coach. We can’t afford to do all the things like this that come up, but hopefully this one will make her some good memories. I’m jealous that the CalSouth girls don’t have to pay to travel!
 
Soccerfan2 said:
My daughter chose to do ODP this year since it’s her last chance befor academy starts. It was $125 to register, a little over $200 for required gear (jacket, pants, shirts, backpack) and $1000 for Arizona (flight, hotel, transport and food). We’ll spend another $900 or so going to watch her. She’s with Cal North. A few of the strongest players in NorCal tried out for ODP. Most did not. I’m hoping the other states are well enough represented that the competition is worthwhile. We looked at is as a chance for her to meet and play with some new girls, and have fun traveling and playing against players from all over. So far she’s having fun and learning from her ODP coach. We can’t afford to do all the things like this that come up, but hopefully this one will make her some good memories. I’m jealous that the CalSouth girls don’t have to pay to travel!
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That doesn't make much sense, 125 to register and 100 for food if you make the team in SoCal, that's it I believe.
 
soloyosh said:
I agree it's cool, but "Olympic Development Program" implies a pathway that does not exist any longer. I just with they'd change the name.
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I tend to agree that the name is misleading, but I can offer a couple pieces of information that suggests it may still offer some opportunities to be seen. (1) An LAFC scout has attended the tryouts (at least for the younger boys) last spring and this winter. Talked to several of the better kids, 1-2 of whom ended up leaving ODP before selections last Spring and moving to LAFC. (2) At the summer training camp for ODP-selected players in Ojai this year, there was apparently a US Soccer scout who came and watched at least one training session of every age group. Or, at least that's what the kids were told and reported based on hearing from the guy and seeing his gear etc. (3) If you get selected and travel to Arizona with the Cal South team, there are college coaches in attendance. Far more on the girls' side than the boys in the past (because there was no DA on the girls side, so that will probably decline for them now too), but some on the boys side still come. Most of the men's coaches that attend are from pretty small/obscure schools, but I think the Yale men's coach was there last year. Perhaps he was just there for a winter trip to a warm climate (and/or a write-off of a trip to see family), but I can imagine that if you're looking for a strong academic kid who is also good at soccer, and you're not a top DI soccer program, ODP might offer a place to find a gem of a player who combines the top play with the strong academics (in part because the kid might have turned down DA opportunities to focus on his academics).

Does all of that combined together mean ODP is a "pathway?" No, if by that you mean the path most top players take if they want to be scouted and advanced to DI colleges and USYNT camps. Still, it offers a little bit of access to that world, which is more than most of these kids will get in their club teams alone, although less than they will get if they joined most DA teams. Not a reason to do it if it's inconvenient or as an alternative to DA, but a positive if you're considering the pros and cons of accepting an offer of a spot in the pool (and the biggest pro is just getting an opportunity to play a lot of scrimmages with a bunch of pretty strong kids during periods when your club team likely wouldn't be practicing/playing anyway).
 
Sheriff Joe said:
That doesn't make much sense, 125 to register and 100 for food if you make the team in SoCal, that's it I believe.
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Correct. ODP was a great experience for my player. She won 2 national championships and really got on the radar of the top schools in the country prior to attending a YNT camp. The $200 spent for the entire thing including travel, meals and the initial tryout was money well spent.
 
Dargle said:
Does all of that combined together mean ODP is a "pathway?" No, if by that you mean the path most top players take if they want to be scouted and advanced to DI colleges and USYNT camps. Still, it offers a little bit of access to that world, which is more than most of these kids will get in their club teams alone, although less than they will get if they joined most DA teams. Not a reason to do it if it's inconvenient or as an alternative to DA, but a positive if you're considering the pros and cons of accepting an offer of a spot in the pool (and the biggest pro is just getting an opportunity to play a lot of scrimmages with a bunch of pretty strong kids during periods when your club team likely wouldn't be practicing/playing anyway).
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Almost every kid on my players college team and YNT played ODP at some point and ALL of the SoCal kids on her team were ID'd for the YNT through ODP. My player got incredible offers from all 3 of her top schools after they watched her play in the regional championships in Arizona and by the time the National championships in Texas came along her sophomore year she was already committed to the school that she currently attends. ODP was better competition than ECNL was or GDA will ever be due to the player dilution. In SoCal the reality is there are only 25-35 elite kids per age group and they SHOULD be training together not spread out on 21 teams. ODP used to be that opportunity. Of course then there were only about 10 "top level" teams per age group.
 
MakeAPlay said:
Almost every kid on my players college team and YNT played ODP at some point and ALL of the SoCal kids on her team were ID'd for the YNT through ODP. My player got incredible offers from all 3 of her top schools after they watched her play in the regional championships in Arizona and by the time the National championships in Texas came along her sophomore year she was already committed to the school that she currently attends. ODP was better competition than ECNL was or GDA will ever be due to the player dilution. In SoCal the reality is there are only 25-35 elite kids per age group and they SHOULD be training together not spread out on 21 teams. ODP used to be that opportunity. Of course then there were only about 10 "top level" teams per age group.
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The thing is, that was the past. Probably 98% of the top players will not be participating in ODP because they are in DA and the DA rules do not allow them to participate.
 
Lambchop said:
The thing is, that was the past. Probably 98% of the top players will not be participating in ODP because they are in DA and the DA rules do not allow them to participate.
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I agree...DA is changing and will continue change ODP if not make it obsolete. DA and NTC are the new pathways. But it’s still a nice chance to play with different kids until DA or for those that opt not to do DA.
 
YNWA 96 said:
ODP is not free, there is a cost to tryout for ODP $100 or so. Once you are selected for the final team then there is no cost for the kids to play. Grant it, it is a fraction of what it cost to play club soccer.
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Wow, you guys are lucky. In Nevada we pay for it all. Tryouts, uniforms, hotel and food. I sent about $2000 last year.
 
State Select Team or something more relevant.

Being in a small town, when we have a player that makes it the local paper always has something stupid like "Look for Johnny at the 2020 Tokyo games!"
 
Lambchop said:
The thing is, that was the past. Probably 98% of the top players will not be participating in ODP because they are in DA and the DA rules do not allow them to participate.
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While I do agree that was in the past, and it will be different moving forward, I don't agree at all with your 98% number. There are and will be plenty of good players not playing DA. There will certainly be some ECNL players that could but choose not to play DA, some good non-DA/ECNL club players that choose not to travel to play DA or prefer to play locally with classmates/friends (SDSC 03 a good example). And if it continues, ODP will still be a regional all-star team of sorts. Probably not on the level of what @MAP describes with future UCLA/Stanford/UNC and YNT players, but still good quality.
 
MakeAPlay said:
Almost every kid on my players college team and YNT played ODP at some point and ALL of the SoCal kids on her team were ID'd for the YNT through ODP. My player got incredible offers from all 3 of her top schools after they watched her play in the regional championships in Arizona and by the time the National championships in Texas came along her sophomore year she was already committed to the school that she currently attends. ODP was better competition than ECNL was or GDA will ever be due to the player dilution. In SoCal the reality is there are only 25-35 elite kids per age group and they SHOULD be training together not spread out on 21 teams. ODP used to be that opportunity. Of course then there were only about 10 "top level" teams per age group.
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One of the ODP coaches seemed pretty concerned about the ODP and its lack of players due to DA and ECNL this year.
 
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