SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP ODP ..This year

Anytime you have a volunteer organization, it is usually the same people that volunteer over and over again and the same people complaining over and over again. The funny it gets the older I get.

This is a mountain of a topic.

It starts with......what is the objective or goal from the point of view of SCYSA? Really.....what do they honestly want to achieve with ODP?

Anyone who looks at NC ODP and then SC ODP.....forget an apples and oranges comparison. They aren't even both fruit. Until that is understood.....and organizationally people are committed to change.....a person who desires change and is willing to work for change is wasting their time volunteering. Maybe not wasting time.....but they will get frustrated and will frustrate those around them.

But the volunteer thing kind of gets me too. Just as CESA has proven in SC that a professionally run club can be superior to a volunteer driven club......I think it begs the question of whether or not its time to have a soccer guy at the top of the ODP pyramid. My guess is.......yes.

what is different about NC's ODP program?

Open tryouts....probably have 4 separate tryout sessions prior to the first sub regional. Cuts are made after first sub regional but in most cases they go from 4 teams....down to 2 teams. Teams probably train several more times then they typically go to another sub regional. Cut down to a team and a half. More training sessions (3-4) leading to final cut.

Compared to SC....

3-4 training sessions before 1st subregional vs. 1 for SC
2 subregionals vs 1 for SC
No fixed teams until June....constant tryout thru probably 10-12 sessions. Versus SC names team after 1 tryout and 1 subregional.

Coaches....in firm control of the process.

All the above at significant $$$$. $ 25.00 per training session equals $ 250.00-$300.00 per player. Additional sub regional- $ 400.00 per player. Adding costs to the ODP system is not the way to go. Many of the NC ODP players that are paying these additional costs have zero chance of making the NC 1 team. Is the NC 1 team good? Absolutely, but I think that's more a reflection of NC soccer as a whole and the NC numbers, more so than the NC ODP program. I think SC ODP made great strides this year with the number and quality of the training sessions (based on the number of age groups that I know). And I'm not sure about the coaches firmly in control of the process in Nc as many are club coaches taking care of their own

Like I said......it depends on what the objective is. Is the goal to make it as inexpensive as possible? Or are you trying to make the best possible decisons and prepare the team to do as well as possible. I have yet to hear 1 NC parent complain about the cost of training. Most said they were great training sessions that were worth the money.

And I think their results speak for themselves.

I agree that this year was better from a training perspective.