ODP Residential Youth Academy - Worth it or a waste?

Even if your kid were selected to the player pool it would mean having to pay $100 for the weekend "tryout." Your kid will be evaluated along with another 100 or so who were mostly placed in the pool by connected coaches and insiders. Out of this horde a handful will be chosen to add to the already chosen kids who attend the weekend charade.

There's a tourmaline mine near San Diego you can go to try your luck at finding gems. They give you a bucket of gravel "right out of the mine" and you will sift through it for hours. At the end of the day they scoop up your scraps, then sprinkle in a few gems. The next day a new batch of hopefuls tries their luck.
 
Primetime said:
Totally disagree. My DD loved it. Had a blast. Made a bunch of new friends from the valley to San Diego and everything in between. She already has like 3 different group texts going. My kid loves nothing more than food and soccer. So after 4 days of 3 all you can eat meals and 3 soccer field sessions a day we had to drag her outta there. If you think you can pay for your kid to get scouted then your delusional to start with. My DD has been to a variety of camps every summer and this is actually the first that was soccer centered. Many other camps my kid spended most of the time doing crafts and what not. She can't wait to go again.
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This is exactly my sentiment as well. My daughter went to last week's camp and had a great experience. Four days of soccer without having your parents hovering and shouting unwanted advice from the sidelines; all you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner; awesome amenities (despite the heat); a safe well supervised program; hanging with old soccer friends; making new soccer friends. Would I love it if it were cheaper? Of course. However, the $625 isn't bad considering all you get.

I can't really speak to the caliber of the trainings since they kick us parents out and don't let us return until the afternoon of the last day. I also don't know the caliber of the competition since I wasn't there. From a olympic id prespective, I would have to say "Meh, I dunno." But from a soccer camp prespective, I would give it a thumbs up.
 
ray8 said:
Even if your kid were selected to the player pool it would mean having to pay $100 for the weekend "tryout." Your kid will be evaluated along with another 100 or so who were mostly placed in the pool by connected coaches and insiders. Out of this horde a handful will be chosen to add to the already chosen kids who attend the weekend charade.

There's a tourmaline mine near San Diego you can go to try your luck at finding gems. They give you a bucket of gravel "right out of the mine" and you will sift through it for hours. At the end of the day they scoop up your scraps, then sprinkle in a few gems. The next day a new batch of hopefuls tries their luck.
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I hear you and I am not discounting your experience. My players experience was different. For $100 she got a kit and a chance to train with most of the best players in her age group and win a few national championships. She was coached by several college coaches and based upon her performance at the region IV championships and in her club games she got a scholarship worth 4 times the amount we spent on her entire club career and her choice of top extremely selective academic institutions that also happen to be good soccer schools. Every player who made the cut down to 36 players from her ODP team got a D1 college scholarship except one (and she chose to go play pro overseas out of high school instead of college).

To use your analogy, we went to the tourmaline mine and found a diamond. In truth we knew that we already had a diamond which is possibly why we approached it differently. We went in reverse since we already knew that she had the talent to be a top D1 player we focused on her development and not "winning" or being on "the best team." We focused on getting her touches against the toughest available competition and instruction from a coach that was focused on my player's need. I hope that you find what you are looking for regarding your player's needs. Good luck to you and your player.
 
ray8 said:
Even if your kid were selected to the player pool it would mean having to pay $100 for the weekend "tryout." Your kid will be evaluated along with another 100 or so who were mostly placed in the pool by connected coaches and insiders. Out of this horde a handful will be chosen to add to the already chosen kids who attend the weekend charade.

There's a tourmaline mine near San Diego you can go to try your luck at finding gems. They give you a bucket of gravel "right out of the mine" and you will sift through it for hours. At the end of the day they scoop up your scraps, then sprinkle in a few gems. The next day a new batch of hopefuls tries their luck.
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For your $100, you typically get between 6 and 10 hours of soccer training over multiple weekends, mostly scrimmages. While I acknowledge the issues with the ODP selection process, here in CA, we are fortunate that even with the non-inclusion of some clubs/teams/league, the politics, and the oversights, you still end up with a group of competitive and skilled players giving 100% to make a team.

That is around $10-15 per hour for pretty intense soccer training, outside your player's normal comfort zone. Even if that is all there is, is that such a bad deal?
 
MakeAPlay said:
I hear you and I am not discounting your experience. My players experience was different. For $100 she got a kit and a chance to train with most of the best players in her age group and win a few national championships. She was coached by several college coaches and based upon her performance at the region IV championships and in her club games she got a scholarship worth 4 times the amount we spent on her entire club career and her choice of top extremely selective academic institutions that also happen to be good soccer schools. Every player who made the cut down to 36 players from her ODP team got a D1 college scholarship except one (and she chose to go play pro overseas out of high school instead of college).

To use your analogy, we went to the tourmaline mine and found a diamond. In truth we knew that we already had a diamond which is possibly why we approached it differently. We went in reverse since we already knew that she had the talent to be a top D1 player we focused on her development and not "winning" or being on "the best team." We focused on getting her touches against the toughest available competition and instruction from a coach that was focused on my player's need. I hope that you find what you are looking for regarding your player's needs. Good luck to you and your player.
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I'd say two things here. 1) Your daughter would have received that scholarship if she didn't participate in ODP. She played in the Region IV championships, and I'd be willing to bet played for a good club. 2) You are articulating the view of what ODP used to be, 5+ years ago. Back before ECNL, back before NT training centers, back before the USSDA.

Back then, ODP served a purpose. Now? The top players aren't allowed to play in it. The top clubs and tournaments provide more than enough opportunity for top players to be seen. It's an expensive camp, and it's being sold as a "pathway", which it isn't. Not anymore.
 
ATRTDT said:
Can you please post your "Salty Parent" story in the thread I started?

(This is one of the perfect examples of pure bitterness I would love to hear about.)
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Not sure this post was pure bitterness but rather just reporting some factual experiences that many have. We were fortunate that our DD was one of those that was put with the group with the likely selectees each time and was chosen for the teams but I saw much of what the poster is talking about. DD had a great experience at Region IV and interregional on many levels but some don't get that experience.
 
mkg68 said:
I'd say two things here. 1) Your daughter would have received that scholarship if she didn't participate in ODP. She played in the Region IV championships, and I'd be willing to bet played for a good club. 2) You are articulating the view of what ODP used to be, 5+ years ago. Back before ECNL, back before NT training centers, back before the USSDA.

Back then, ODP served a purpose. Now? The top players aren't allowed to play in it. The top clubs and tournaments provide more than enough opportunity for top players to be seen. It's an expensive camp, and it's being sold as a "pathway", which it isn't. Not anymore.
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Fair enough it was a few years ago. She played in the Region IV ODP championships not the USYS championship. She played for an ECNL club so she only got two shots at regionals. I disagree about her getting a scholarship to her dream school without ODP. She participated in national training centers, ECNL and ODP prior to committing to her current school and the biggest year over year improvement happened after she came back from her first YOP camps. Yes she has the athletic ability to go as far as she wants in the sport, however, after being a "B" team player her first two years of club and then getting selected for ODP immediately after changing clubs she learned that with hard work and a new set of eyes she could succeed at the highest level.

My daughter played for three good clubs and several good coaches. What I think that a lot of the parents of ULittles don't realize that although those things are important the self motivation of the player is the most critical element. ODP was a vehicle for a motivated player to improve and compete. My player was a player that hit her stride later in terms of national recognition. She was always an alternate for the regional team until the last 3 years (the recruiting years!). She plays a position that is hard to track statistically and with Cal South's player pool depth as long as you get 18 the top 24-36 players you are going to win. Not getting called the best at 12 motivated her to keep improving and to play with a chip on her shoulder especially when she knew how she compared to those selected ahead of her when they played against each other throughout the season. My point is that ODP was a critical part of her development and I feel sad for those that don't get the same experience for whatever reason. And in hindsight I would have paid much more than I did for the camps that she went to through the Cal South program.
 
My DD and her teammate both attended this camp for two years U11 and U12. On the second year they both got selected for the Winter ODP Pool. They loved the camp and it was a good experience for them.
 
Again, I'm sure the girls' experience must be different. The boys side of odp has been so exposed by USSDA. No more gems to sprinkle around to keep the low-lying fruit interested in paying. They've all gone to academy. That's another sham yet to be fully exposed. In time it will too.
 
Came across another cruel joke, this one an opportunity to get scouted for the LA Galaxy academy.
Nine hundred bucks for four days.
"LA Galaxy utilizes our camps as a means to identify players for our Academy."
Intermediate-level players welcome. You get a certificate and an afterthought disguised as an evaluation.
https://youth.lagalaxy.com/residential-camp-cate-school/
 
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