ODP Residential Youth Academy - Worth it or a waste?

bsqdan

BRONZE
I'm not familiar with the ODP Residential Youth Academies at The Thacher School. I've never encountered anyone who's child has ever attended. I'm curious if it's just another camp of skills/curriculum/fun or if it's an opportunity for a player to be recognized and open up doors to ODP or possibly even an academy team for the future?
I'm contemplating sending my son but the price point is high. I wouldn't mind making the sacrifice if this camp presented opportunities that other camps can't provide. Any opinions/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
Personally, I believe it to be a complete waste of money. It is not about identification of prospects. It is about generating cash. At each session you will be told that this is a path toward identification, and you will come to believe that you have to go to more and more ODP camps to achieve that goal. But the prize is always just beyond the grasp, which is why you need to attend the next camp, BTW.
 
I'm not familiar with the ODP Residential Youth Academies at The Thacher School. I've never encountered anyone who's child has ever attended. I'm curious if it's just another camp of skills/curriculum/fun or if it's an opportunity for a player to be recognized and open up doors to ODP or possibly even an academy team for the future?
I'm contemplating sending my son but the price point is high. I wouldn't mind making the sacrifice if this camp presented opportunities that other camps can't provide. Any opinions/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

In the past, it was run by the same coaches who work ODP teams, so there was some chance for a diamond in the rough player to be noticed, although I don't recall any such player existing. The regular ODP teams were brought in for one Sunday, perhaps to show the resident campers how far they have to go.
 
Its fun for the kids, its a well run camp, and if you think your kid is good enough for ODP but was overlooked or not seen for whatever reason, this would be a chance to be seen by the coaches.
 
The regular ODP teams were brought in for one Sunday, perhaps to show the resident campers how far they have to go.

I don't think they do that anymore. The regular ODP teams selected during March/April have their own residential training camps in Ojai that are not open to the public (one for Boys teams and one for Girls teams)
 
I don't think they do that anymore. The regular ODP teams selected during March/April have their own residential training camps in Ojai that are not open to the public (one for Boys teams and one for Girls teams)

They have those camp dates right up against each other some years, so you never know.
 
They have those camp dates right up against each other some years, so you never know.
Good point. Doubt that they have the dorm space to overlap completely, but there may be some partial overlap on one day when one group is arriving and the other leaving.
 
I'm not familiar with the ODP Residential Youth Academies at The Thacher School. I've never encountered anyone who's child has ever attended. I'm curious if it's just another camp of skills/curriculum/fun or if it's an opportunity for a player to be recognized and open up doors to ODP or possibly even an academy team for the future?
I'm contemplating sending my son but the price point is high. I wouldn't mind making the sacrifice if this camp presented opportunities that other camps can't provide. Any opinions/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
At U12 my DD's teammate asked if she wanted to go with her to the ODP Residential camp. We decided to let her go. She did well at the Summer camp and then made the winter player pool and proceeded to be named team alternate for the team. So, if a kid is a baller and hasn't been ID prior by the ODP staff. There is an opportunity to get on the pool.
 
I'm not familiar with the ODP Residential Youth Academies at The Thacher School. I've never encountered anyone who's child has ever attended. I'm curious if it's just another camp of skills/curriculum/fun or if it's an opportunity for a player to be recognized and open up doors to ODP or possibly even an academy team for the future?
I'm contemplating sending my son but the price point is high. I wouldn't mind making the sacrifice if this camp presented opportunities that other camps can't provide. Any opinions/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Money making scheme.
Just another camp. Could be fun like any camp but nothing will be gained soccer-wise. And no doors will be opened. That's a fat lie.
At this point ODP looks like a made-up old hag on a street corner, trying to pull off a few last tricks.
 
Its fun for the kids, its a well run camp, and if you think your kid is good enough for ODP but was overlooked or not seen for whatever reason, this would be a chance to be seen by the coaches.
You just never know, one good move, pass or shot can change everything, one coach just might take to your kids personality. It definitely can't hurt.
 
There are a ton of soccer camps out there. The ODP camps at the Thacher school come with no guarantees, but I can say that they do involve many of the coaches that scout for ODP and some that occasionally coach a regional ODP team. So, from that perspective, your son may have exposure to them in a way that he would not have at another camp.

However, this does not mean that he will be recruited into the ODP pool. It just means that he would be seen by coaches that are involved in the process. It also means that he'll be coached by them a bit over the course of the few days he is there, which could be a good thing.

I'll share a couple experiences:

My DD went to an ODP day camp one summer for a week. She enjoyed it, but I think the pacing of moving from group-to-group working on different things seemed too fast. There were a ton of kids and it seemed like the player to coach ratio was high. We didn't do that again.

We heard decent things about the ODP residential camps and she attend one and thoroughly enjoyed it. Part of it was getting to hang out on her own with some friends at a residential camp. However, we also noticed (at ulittle) that she came back very motivated to work harder on her game. They have sessions off the field where they focus on the mentality of the player and she benefited from that. I also noticed that the coach to player ratio seemed better than the day camp. I would recommend this camp, but it isn't cheap and your expectations should be reasonable.

Just last year DD attended a residential training camp at a college. The training was largely coached by the college players with some involvement by the head coach and assistant coaches. Pretty mixed bag in terms of quality, but DD definitely remembered the coaches. In the fall, she recognized some of them on the field (PAC-12 tv) and the head coach of the team. So, she was excited about that.

Of these experiences, I think the Thacher school residential ODP camp was the most expensive, but DD probably had the best experience there. Her experience wasn't positive because of any ODP links, she just liked the atmosphere and she noticed many other players on teams she competed with were there. She still sees girls she met at that camp out on the fields. With that said, it isn't for everybody. If you want the exposure to lead to an ODP call-up for your son, then you should temper those expectations. It's not impossible, but it shouldn't be expected.

Aside from the ODP link, I think some of the colleges here in SoCal put on weekly summer soccer camps that can be reasonably priced and well run.

Hope that helps.
 
You just never know, one good move, pass or shot can change everything, one coach just might take to your kids personality. It definitely can't hurt.
You just described the JOKE that is ODP scouting. Based on moments. This is why out of 125 kids that get invites, at least 80 have no business being there. The "staff" in charge have zero clue how to identify. JMO.
 
My DD went last year and loved it, and is sad not to go back this year due to CRL conflict. Great camp. Nice campus. Lots of inspiration. Meeting other players, lectures, training. Kids get a lot from sleepaway camp.
https://www.thestar.com/amp/life/20...tter-for-your-kids-than-sat-prep-classes.html

Soccer just happens to be where she wanted to spend her time sleeping away. It was our first residential soccer camp, but we have done other sleepaway camps. We were not necessarily seeking ODP opp in going, would be a nice benefit if it happened, but we would still go back regardless. Based on my kids experience, we would go back despite ODP opp.
 
It's a joke !!!! Don't waste your money. They expect your kid to kiss the coaches ass. And promise the kids the national scout will look at them. Look at the list they keep and look at the past years same kids. Some are talented and suck. Sorry but it's the truth.
 
My DD is attending this year. We have no hopes of any scouting or anything of the sorts. If there is any chance of that then great but not the reason we signed up. She's been to numerous summer/day camps including ODP and she's really just excited about a sleepover camp especially one revolved around soccer. Seems like a good camp and was worth the extra money for us to get her oitbof our hair for a couple days. One or two of her teammates are going so should be fun for them. Wish it was that easy to pay an extra few bucks to have your kid scouted. We'd all be screwed if that ever became the case.
 
You just described the JOKE that is ODP scouting. Based on moments. This is why out of 125 kids that get invites, at least 80 have no business being there. The "staff" in charge have zero clue how to identify. JMO.
Has your player been selected to the ODP pool tryouts?
I know enough to know what I like in a player so I am pretty sure the coaches do as well. For me the problem seems to be too many players from 1 team in 1 age group. Maybe the coaches could get out to more events.
 
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