How does ODP work?

Blue shirt one day, YNT Scout shirts and jackets the next day. Did they hire a new scouting crew for 2017 and beyond?
For the girls ODP that is probably a yes. I've seen the US scouts over the last two years at games and invites. Definitely a different group. The ODP scouts were also coaches at the camp.
 
LOL at all the futboldads and mums who think it means anything at all.
It means plenty. It means the player is a good player. Does it mean they are the best 18 players in SoCal in their age group? No. Plenty of kids are missed or have conflicts or are injured. To say it means nothing at all denigrates the experience and the achievement for those who participate.

it also means the player has the opportunity to meet and get to know other good players in the area not on their regular team. They get to represent their community on a team they didn’t pay to be on. I can tell you that when my DD was invited to the pool it meant something to her. And when she made the first cut and not the final cut, it meant plenty again. And when the next time when she tried again and did make the final cut it meant more still. ODP is not perfect in player selection; how could it be? The NFL is regularly atrocious at the draft with vastly more information and resources. But it was a great experience for my DD on a number of levels. I encourage people who have the chance to make the most of it.
 
It means plenty. It means the player is a good player. Does it mean they are the best 18 players in SoCal in their age group? No. Plenty of kids are missed or have conflicts or are injured. To say it means nothing at all denigrates the experience and the achievement for those who participate.

it also means the player has the opportunity to meet and get to know other good players in the area not on their regular team. They get to represent their community on a team they didn’t pay to be on. I can tell you that when my DD was invited to the pool it meant something to her. And when she made the first cut and not the final cut, it meant plenty again. And when the next time when she tried again and did make the final cut it meant more still. ODP is not perfect in player selection; how could it be? The NFL is regularly atrocious at the draft with vastly more information and resources. But it was a great experience for my DD on a number of levels. I encourage people who have the chance to make the most of it.
My dd dreamed of making ODP. The one player she really looked up to was Simone Jackson. She get's the invite and her club, Surf, said it was no good anymore and all political and no need to go because TC is here now and that is where the goats will be picked by da scouts. So ODP in my mind has allowed good players the opportunity to maybe be real good players because they now get a chance with the rock instead of the super goat ball hog circus trying to show all da scouts how many juggles and scissors they can do and of course, the helicopter. Congrats to all the girls who make ODP. Don;t listen to the haters. Go play and have fun and try to win for Cal South. We have so many good soccer players in socal and we need them to stay in this game :)
 
I completely agree with @Dof3 and @Soccerhelper. My DD made the player pool last year and it meant so much to her. She tried her heart out...didn’t make the final cut, but boy was it an amazing experience for her. Still till this day she still runs into other players from other teams at tournaments or at games and they high five one another. Is it the end of the world if they don’t get selected? No. Can it be political? Perhaps. But it’s a fun experience and a good process to go through.
 
It means plenty. It means the player is a good player. Does it mean they are the best 18 players in SoCal in their age group? No. Plenty of kids are missed or have conflicts or are injured. To say it means nothing at all denigrates the experience and the achievement for those who participate.

it also means the player has the opportunity to meet and get to know other good players in the area not on their regular team. They get to represent their community on a team they didn’t pay to be on. I can tell you that when my DD was invited to the pool it meant something to her. And when she made the first cut and not the final cut, it meant plenty again. And when the next time when she tried again and did make the final cut it meant more still. ODP is not perfect in player selection; how could it be? The NFL is regularly atrocious at the draft with vastly more information and resources. But it was a great experience for my DD on a number of levels. I encourage people who have the chance to make the most of it.

Not sure if they didn't pay before but they pay now, if you get "selected" you have to pay a couple hundred to do the summer camp. After reading some of the comments I agree it is good for the social aspect but it is not good for development. Not a single club coach likes ODP and for good reason, all they do is scrimmage and usually everyone ball hogs because they want to make the team. There are a few girls in my daughter's age group that made ODP and had tremendous success but have had very little success at the club level and there are also a few mainstay national team players that have never made the final cut of odp. So again, take it as a social experience and you will probably enjoy it.

Just for fun, since ODP and CRL is CalSouth I thought it could be interesting to make it mandatory that each coach taking part in CRL has to coach one training session for ODP. Players get real coaches that will run them through drills and help develop and will get different points of view. Coaches will get to see new players that maybe they didn't know and could possibly recruit later on. Parents would be happy that ODP is finally worth doing. Thoughts?
 
ODP today is not the ODP of yesteryear. In 2016, the first year 04' was eligible, they selected around 100 kids in SoCal. $100 to ball it up with all the other top goats in SoCal was an honor. This was The List you wanted to make in Socal, let me tell you. Reading your comments is understandable in todays soccer times but it wasn't like that before bro. We had some drills but mostly scrummages. Tough battles. If you like playing soccer games, it was great. Yes, many ball hogs and that style back then was weak sauce. However, I can't imagine back when I was a stud hoopster in middle school going to the top 100 in SoCal and doing drills all weekend or half the day for that matter, just so we can develop the finer parts of our game. I'm sorry Guru, we would be scrimmaging the whole time or "balling it up" as some call it. The only developing going on is taking someone on one v one and trying to dunk on his ass or faking him out and taking the three!!! Same thing with ODP back in the day. It was a pick up game with goats and it had defense, unlike the NBA All Star Game. Maybe what we should do for soccer, is have a juggling contest, shooting contest and so on for others who don;t like to scrimmage all the time.

This is how Soccerhelper see it. ODP was the best way to find the top100 in SoCal, then the top top 22 from SoCal is selected from how they did on the field. Everyone knows where they stand too and some will feel snubbed. Four Regions in the USA, see below. We are the West. 12 teams head to Phoenix and duke it out on the field for bragging rights. From there, each region selects 25 top top top goats to represent each region for more scrimmages. For example, Region 4 would have it's own coach and scouts and they would watch all the 12 04' teams play (12x22 players on each team= 264 x 4=1056). The player would be identified as top players in each age group, in each region across the USA. Do you see the cream rising? Do you see transparency at least? The top top top top 100 will have the honor to scrimmage and play games in front of the National Team coaches and top D1 coaches come too. Everyone is happy and the fairest way to see how everyone is elected is in plain site.


1583246597849.png


These question are for parents with a dd or dds who think they have a top 100 goat in Socal for the following ages. 04' 05' and 06'. I know who the top 15 are and the top 50 in our country based on the YNT List.

Q. Who are the top 100 socal players today?
Q Who are the top 22 players in socal today?
Q Who are the top 264 players in Region 4 today?
Q Who are the top 1056 players in the USA?
Q Who are the top 100 players in the country based on each Regions top 25?

I think this is a way better to have transparency and at least 1000 other 04's feel like they have a shot if they keep working hard.

ODP was the bomb!! I heard all the scrimmages were legendary. In fact, I still remember one of the all time great CRL League Games between Blues Bakers 02/03 and Surf Spooners 03/02 championship game at Birdsall park in Temecula. You want to talk about a battle of wills and competition. It was fierce. Savage from Surf was on fire. However, Simone Jackson put on a show unlike any other, right in front of my dd and I. I can;t remember seeing a more passionate league game since. It was sad to hear that the Blues beat Earthquakes 7-0.
 
Last edited:
I know who the top 15 are and the top 50 in our country based on the YNT List
No you do not, because DA selects girls from its own program and avoids selecting girls from other programs (e.g. ECNL) for political reasons. You of all people really think there are no ECNL girls in that group that are at the level of the girls selected for the list?

Q. Who are the top 100 socal players today?
Q Who are the top 22 players in socal today?
Q Who are the top 264 players in Region 4 today?
Q Who are the top 1056 players in the USA?
Q Who are the top 100 players in the country based on each Regions top 25?

A. Who cares. YNT has turned into political BS. U20 and up appear to be unbiased, at least in terms of what league/school you play. Then again, it's "understood" that if you want to be selected for the senior team that you should play in the NWSL.

In your specific instance, you complain about your daughter not being considered for YNT, but if she really is that good, won't she get a great offer to a great school? Isn't that what we should be worried about? But to honestly answer your question, we don't know. We know who US Soccer wants to promote using their system and influence.
 
No you do not, because DA selects girls from its own program and avoids selecting girls from other programs (e.g. ECNL) for political reasons. You of all people really think there are no ECNL girls in that group that are at the level of the girls selected for the list?



A. Who cares. YNT has turned into political BS. U20 and up appear to be unbiased, at least in terms of what league/school you play. Then again, it's "understood" that if you want to be selected for the senior team that you should play in the NWSL.

In your specific instance, you complain about your daughter not being considered for YNT, but if she really is that good, won't she get a great offer to a great school? Isn't that what we should be worried about? But to honestly answer your question, we don't know. We know who US Soccer wants to promote using their system and influence.
Hit me up over at my Free Soccer Help Thread. I will be there until Friday the 13th of this month. No joke this time. I'm way past time being here. I;ll answer your questions over there for you. The stuff that's hitting my PM box is getting nasty. I'll stay on my two threads only. If I do post on another thread, it will be basic info. No opinions I promise on other threads.
 
If you have a daughter, she plays for blues, beach, eagles or slammers.
Not necessarily true pokergod. It may help to play on those teams but not a requirement to get ODP recognition. If the kid can play at a high level and the parents do a bit of leg work, an ODP honor is readily available.
 
I'm torn on this. Kid knows nothing about ODP, as a parent I wonder if she should get a chance to tryout? Our DOC would nominate if I ask, could also find some other coaches that would nominate as well. But would I be doing it for her, or myself?
 
Not necessarily true pokergod. It may help to play on those teams but not a requirement to get ODP recognition. If the kid can play at a high level and the parents do a bit of leg work, an ODP honor is readily available.
This is a great opportunity for someone to step up and make a team from actually trying out. I'm sure all the girls who made ODP in the past are still friends today. Van ride for 6 hours is cool and playing for Cal South was a badge of honor. I vote 100% for your goat to go for it. My goat missed a pk at state cup QF and got cut on the last day of ODP. Tough times. She regrouped and did some magical stuff the next 16 months that needs no repeating:)
 
I'm torn on this. Kid knows nothing about ODP, as a parent I wonder if she should get a chance to tryout? Our DOC would nominate if I ask, could also find some other coaches that would nominate as well. But would I be doing it for her, or myself?
@socalkdg - If your daughter is "all in" on soccer, aren't we as parents doing them a disservice if we're not giving them the best opportunities to compete and succeed at the highest levels? Most kids (hopefully unknowingly) already go through coaching changes, club politics, backstabbing parents and teammates etc. and we as parents are able to deflect that outside garbage/noise. Shouldn't we also be showing our kids a path to potential success recognition if they are dedicated and putting in the work. As for "doing it for her , or myself" - why not both?
 
The way it was explained at the ODP camp, the scouts write down players names and if 2 scouts select the same player, then that player is invited. Coaches will talk with the scouts during the game.
1) Is it a good experience? Yes.
2) Is it developmental? No. Just scrimmages all day. There's no setting teams by position. They just lump kids together and it's up to your kid to fight for his playing position. Some kids end up playing out of position and then lose a shot at advancing.
3) Do they pick the best? Not necessarily, but that's all relative, but overall they select good teams.
4) Politics involved? Yes. Some field players are easy to spot that deserve to go to the next round of the ODP selection process. Although it may be hard to assess all the field players to see who should advance, take a look at the keepers. 1 year I saw the top keeper (in my opinion) selected. Of the other 2 that were selected, one was very vocal and I knew he would be selected. The 3rd was not distinguishable. The kid that I thought was #2 was not selected. The following year the kid who was #1 the previous year was selected again. 3 others were selected as well. The kid who was #2 the previous year and probably did the best was not selected. No way 4 others were better than him. Something's going on.
5) Is it a money grab? Yes and no. It's not that expensive. However over one of the Winter camps, some kids who were invited over the Summer, but not that Winter were sent a late invite after camp had started. Why? Did not enough kids show up? Did they need more $$? I can't say for sure, but it was strange.
6) Does size matter? Probably. The year after they lost they mentioned how they had gone with a smaller sized team. The following year bigger kids were selected. It's not like being the biggest guarantees you a spot, but it is an advantage.
7) Worth the cost? That's debatable. Although the payment to CalSouth is minimal, over the Summer the first ID camp is in Ventura so you may have expenses for gas, hotel and dining. If you take the family, you could easily spend over $500 for the travel.
8) What should you expect if you go? - Your kid gets touches against great competition. Your kid will make friends, or at least recognize other ODP invites when at the same tournament. You can make friends or bond with the parents. If your kid gets picked, great. If not, move on and decide if you want to return if you get invited again. In Ventura, make time to stop by Duke's Griddle 'n Grill for lunch or dinner followed by Surf N Yogurt for dessert and watch out for the red-light cameras.
 
Back
Top