SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Is ODP worth it???

I have been ask by several parents this week if I thought the ODP program was worth the time and money, or would the expense be better spent going to college camps where their kids are interested in attending? From what I understand the accommodations are not very good in Alabama, and more and more of the better players are not even coming out, so SC is not really being represented properly at Region. I really had not thought much about it, but was curious on other people's comments.

As far as the SC 92 girls are concerned, I would say that most of the top players have come out. Do some get missed, sure. The ODP program provides top training, pits the player against top competition in training/matches and makes them step out of their comfort zone playing with their club team. All of these help make them a better player. Regional camp provides the players the opportunity to gauge themselves against the top competition in the Southeast (Texas)-something you do not get at a college camp. And it does, if the player performs well, open additional opportunities for the future.

If your daughter makes the Region ODP camp, I have been told it is the best possible camp she could attend. Great instruction, high-level training sessions and competition with and against some of the best players in the southeast. Your daughter will not be challenged like this at any college camp. This will help your daughter get BETTER and perhaps get noticed by one of the college coaches providing instruction IF your daughter is an ELITE player.

Now, if you would rather spend your money on finding out if your daughter is the proper fit for a school that she has already expressed an interest in attending, then surely your money would be well-spent in sending her to that school's camp so the coach can evaluate her (and vice versa).

As I put my child on the bus for the first time I asked myself the same question and went online for information. The article below offers a good overview.



http://www.osysa.com/USWOMEN.html

After years of ODP participation, I've seen players build confidence in themselves as they step out of their comfort zones to compete for a spot on the State team. I've seen players fail to be selected and return the next year to be selected. Great personal relationships are built with players from competing clubs and coaches from major Universities and Colleges across the State during each year of training and competition.

If your son or daughter has aspirations of playing at the National team level, he/she has the opportunity to do that via the program. If he/she wants to play college ball, ODP combines ideally with club participation to give the increasingly accomplished player exposure and a realistic view of the demands required of top level athletes as they continue to grow and develop.

The existing program isn't perfect in many ways, but it's not bad either. Like the skill of any athlete, there is always room for improvement. After all, that's what keeps us all going. Embrace the challenge and benefit from it.

To take a different view point... Is ODP worth the time and money? If you read the Bio on every UNC womens player, the answer is, YES. Every Bio has something about ODP and or a national team in their background, sort of like it is in their DNA.

Every young person that has asked me the question, the answer they get is, "if you want to play for a college team, YES".

The white paper posted by momofboywholovesoccer, has one key component that SC should address, the COST. We - SC, in my opinion, are behind in our ODP efforts. SCYSA should take the stock pile of money they have ear marked for the SCYSA fields and use it to fund the ODP teams for FREE This will insure we do not leave any SC child out of this equation. Hey, but I must be a soft hearted, liberal, hmmm ... NOT!

free is not the answer. there are many reasons sc is behind other states but the cost is not one of them in the way you want it.if you cant pay for odp then im sure a player cant pay for club soccer.if you do not want any players left out then the free should start at the club level.i guess it is somewhat with sholarships that can be applied for.
the lack of training together may be more the problem than anything else. you have college coaches coaching the sc odp teams but what pay they are getting hardly pays the gas for them to make one training session.
i would say numbers plays a big part in the levelsc is at compared to other states.

papa hatfield i will pm you my cell number.give me a call and i will tell you about my 2 hr conversation with some of the people that run the texas odp and why it is so successful.part of it is the skill of the kids but part is how they get that skill and how much it cost them.

we may want to get the politics out of soccer before anything else.always some shady stuff going on in soccer.it is with the odp 92s now.

1. I said twice, as is, warts and all that ODP is worth it.
2. FREE is only part of the answer. Cost can not be a barrier for our (SC) kids.
3. Money works for everything Soccer included, more training, more work, more camps, more speed training, more works. My little one played 65 matches, went to 10 weeks worth of camps. So more works. In my mind. Money it self helps, ask the ugly rich guy, how he got the hot wife.
4. Free is only about 10-20% of the answer, I just do not like how far SC is off. Two young 95 girls got into the coaches choice game.Two SC girls that is it. Politics I understand helped them get in, so it could have been, NONE. So when I push the FREE button, it is to help the total package.
5. SC as a whole will benefit from your Texas knowlege, please share if you feel like you can.

And politics in a kids game, sucks...