SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP ODP Regionals - Boys

No disagreement from me. What you have happening is SC players stepping up their commitment while a shifting of the talent pool to and from USSF across the country is going on. Based on what I've seen of our more successful SC teams I'd say you'd have pretty competitive matches vs Texas and/or FL USYS or USSF teams for now.

Great work by both keepers. Which club does Wichman play for?

No doubt about it that the Academy League holds more of the best players all over the country.. ODP is going down.. but is still a good thing to do if your club ball team is not in the Academy. Some states aren't even sending a team down to Regional's because lack of participation to the ODP program because so many players have turned to the Academy as the number one development. ODP this year for the boys is probably not near as strong as last year and the years before because of Academy. Good luck to the remaining participants in ODP and keep making a name for SC in a good manor.

It looks like the academy will become more appealing to players as the route to take in advancing their soccer. What is the USYS doing to counter this? Can ODP continue to exist? Or will it become a secondary avenue for players?

That what i was wondering? will ODP still exists? I dont think USYS can counter the Academy..

Manchester,

I'm certainly not disagreeing there is parity between USYS and USSF right now. Nor am I disagreeing South Carolina seemingly has made strides in leveling the playing field between ourselves and other states in Region III. I guess what I am saying is that two short years ago we were on this very board complaining as to what we could do to compete with the Texas's and Florida's of our region. To put it bluntly we hung on for dear life every time we faced them. Seemingly, something has happened in those states to make us more competitive in odp. In checking the upcoming USSF Academy schedules for the 2009 - 2010 season I find that Texas has their very own division - they will have 9 teams to our 1 in both the U16 and U 18 age brackets. That tells me that state has gone heavy to the Academy. Therefore, even though the argument can be made they are a much more populated state and still have a huge pool to choose from for odp - they also seem to have really bought into the Academy more than we have at this point in time. I'm sure this has had an effect on their odp program thus allowing us to win games vs. them. Something that has rarely happened in the past. So what I guess I'm really saying is let's don't simply look at these odp region wins and think we are there yet. We are getting there so let's enjoy the odp success while at the same time being realistic as to what may be going on. Apparently with only one Academy club in our state currently we haven't diluted our odp pool quite as bad as Texas right now. I still feel odp will have a purpose but it no longer is the only avenue to furthering ones development with the ultimate goal being - making the national team.

Below is a link to the Academy schedules for the 2009 - 2010 year.

2009-2010 Academy Teams & Schedules

I'd say we're pretty much in agreement on the issue. I would suspect a close look at the lower level teams within the academy would result in sub-par evaluations of most players as the top players are either on top academy teams or top USYS teams. For example, there's no way all 9 Texas divisions would all defeat our top ODP or PL teams and I know you're not saying they would.

In fact, in the academy it's kind of hard to determine what the best team is because of the required playing time in the program. Teams that could have won in their playoffs in Greensboro may not have because the best players may have not been on the field because of playing time requirements. No problem with that, it's just a different philosophy regarding player development which impacts the true 'winning ability' of a team.

I think we can agree there is excellent talent at the top levels of both programs and within the ranks of all levels of the academy where playing time is mandated.