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

I do not think there are any "politics" going on with the '92G ODP- whatever politics means. That teams training and coaching are what's good about ODP

politics does suck.i will agree.
as far as my knowledge of texas odp is basically this in a nut shell without going thru the whole conversation.
pay more,train more,get more.
texas kids pay alot more money over the whole odp process than we do in sc.nc does too. reason being is their coaches are well paid.sc coaches get about 40 bucks on avg for a training session.that does not pay the gas for a college coach to drive and spend the day training the kids.
they also train most weekends during the year.they also have a league with odp teams.sc does not have the numbers for that.

"Politics" is vague term. But in its normal usage relating to club or ODP soccer, yes I'm sure

I agree, more is better. They (NC) were better prepared than we were, I understood they had trained more as a unit etc. I simply state why buy fields when many exist in Columbia already. Use the funds SCYSA has to get SC up a notch, say fund the difference for the better/more training or fund a huge free scholarship fund, or have it all free. I just think state assocation owned fields will not get our kids up a notch. More money, more training, more practice as a unit works. The coaches should be paid on par with the other states, we should expect the same level and number of training sessions, in return. The sessions I saw were professional, maybe just too few of them.

South Cal ODP has a system where they try and scout kids out for their very successful ODP process, and have an extensive process where kids can be nominated. Two things I do not think we have.

to answer your club affiliation question, I will have to rely on what I have seen, and the lot I have heard. The part I have heard is from people I trust with my life, so I take it to be FACT.

Yes, club affiliation affects who makes the team. In the best case if two kids are about even a coach will take a known property, the kid he or she knows. That part makes sense to me. In a worse case, it is plain worse. Politics play a role. The problem is it is almost impossible to prove and is impossible to stop.

ODP is worth it, warts, and all. Politics is a WART.

MA... first of all we are speaking about a human process.... by definition there is "politics" involved. Whether to appease or preferential or whatever one can come up with.

However having said that for the most part the selection process does work with the best that CAME to tryouts.. This subject is not new and there is a thread going back 2 years on the same topic

Club affiliation??? I was involved with ODP for 5 years and in my opinion club affiliation only helped in that the player selected was better prepared. So yes you would expect that players from club A who have a history of winning would most likely have the better players.

In my experience it has been diversified with those that CAME out to tryouts

I keep capitalizing the word CAME because I know for a fact the best players do not all try-out.

You may want to read some of this thread
http://www.scsoccer.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=62667&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

It has very good discussion
My point back then and still valid as far as I am concerned

you can find the following in this link if you want to see the full ranting and raving
http://www.scsoccer.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=62667&page=0&fpart=2&vc=6

This brings us to the next point – Camps & ODP

Camps are great for recruiting opportunities, but you must get into the right camp in the right session… for example the senior elite camps at Clemson, Furman and USC. Here you will have the opportunity to be showcased to many college coaches (not just that school) in an individual level… both a good thing and a bad thing. Key question do you need to go every year? Probably not, the key year is summer of your Junior year (Girls may extend into senior year). If by this time you are not somewhat known, you probably never will.

ODP – as far as I am concerned ODP is broken. Here in SC and elsewhere, although the size of the participating population will impact the program. In my opinion I would like it better if instead of tryouts, players were invited to participate in the program (US CLUB SOCCER SUPER Y)… How do you do this?

1-The clubs should have a vested interest in the program; to date not many clubs do (think pro club vs national team issues – injuries, etc.). How do you have the club buy in? The coaches in an age group have to select the best 3 players for the opposing team after every game. The youth coaches know who these players are. A coordinator for the age group is selected to compile and discuss with the coaches the selection.
2-As the season progresses, a list is generated from which an invitation will be extended to come to camp. There would only be a cost for registration, the additional fees should be from sponsorship opportunities.
3-SCYSA should centralize training, with the logical location being Columbia as the state central location. This requires fields or an arrangement with a local club.
4-The team is assigned the coordinating coach and a College coach for all training.

Now in a perfect world this would work, however there should be some rules in place that clearly define recruiting do’s and do not’s that affect the coaches from the clubs.

There is basically no way to eliminate the political perception of the program for one simple reason. Whether it is try-outs or invitation the fact is, it is someone’s opinion -similar to judging high dives or ice skating at the Olympics – not everyone will agree. But what everyone will agree on is that the selection process was done over a period of time in which Johnny/Sally had ample time to show his/hers stuff.

The cost is minimal and it would very likely identify the top players.

......

Odp is worth it. I think that it is one of the first thing college coaches look at. I also think it should not cost as much as it does (maybe 1\3 the price now with low income players having the opportunity for a scholarship). Second is having the clubs and coaches supporting odp. Many coaches in the low country steer kids away from odp. My daughter plays for Bridge 94 and one of the requirments to play on the team is trying out for odp. We had 3 94(1 ALT) 7- 95 and 1 that was a 96 and too young to try out.