SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP ODP worth all the money?

I have played Odp several year and everyone says it is a good program to get a scholarship but just thinking about it, by the time you get through paying for it...you could have saved the money to pay for college. I do like ODP i just hate it for the people who really dont have a chance who are wasting their money.

Interesting viewpoint!!!

ODP POSITIVES (+)
(1)Exposure; (2) Opportunity to play with other high caliber players; (3) Receive quality instruction; (4) Travel and face top competition

ODP NEGATIVES (-)
(1) Myth of "collegiate" opportunities - if you are truly a great player, they will find you, however this does give you added visibility especially for Mid/Lower DI and DII/DIII programs; (2) Cost - extremely high; much downtime at tournaments/camp; (3) Poor organization in many cases - especially in SC; (4) Some of the collegiate coaches still don't recognize the players (even after coaching them) and utilize the program for recruiting purposes as is often advertised and believed.

In short, it's all in what you desire, but ODP is beneficial as long as you keep the aforementioned in perspective!

This is the second year my son is playing ODP in NC. I wouldn't say ODP is prohibitively expensive. This year, training is $25/session for 6 sessions initially. The team travelled to a tournament in Jekyll Island, the cost was $250 for the weekend. The team is travelling to a tournament in France for 10 days in April. The cost (if you wish your son to go) will be around $1500. There will be a tournament in Charleston, which will probably be $250 and camp in Alabama for $600. This year (because of the France trip) is the most expensive year.

I know college, even at a state school is going to be around $10K/year. I agree that if you think you are going to get a scholarship by playing ODP, think again. First, the most you'll receive is a 1/4 or 1/3 scholarship, 10 per team of 24 players means you don't get a free ride.

ODP here in NC has been a very positive experience for my son. The program is very well organized. His goal is not to be recruited by one of the ODP coaches, our club team is affiliated with Duke, UNC and NC State. He will get much more exposure to these programs (assuming he wants to go/play at one of these schools) by playing for our club, attending additional training sessions, etc.

The ODP experience, playing with and against the best players, travelling with a team (not your parents) to tournaments so far, has been a positive, enriching experience for him.

LR...What birth year are you? ODP goes by birth year and right now the oldest team is 85's. Next year the oldest team will be 86's. You can go to www.scysa.org to check out ODP. Choose "state select teams". There are scholarships available for those who qualify. Check it out!

Thanks SocFan,

i guess i just barely made it, my birth year is 1985. Well another question i have is, does ODP give a lot of exposure to college and pro scouts. Because there's the ODP scholarship, but then a college can offer it's own right? Well anyway thanks for the info i'll check it out.

Keeper, Don't be discouraged by those who don't see the big picture. If you want to keep playing...go for it! Use every resource you can to make it happen. Apply to smaller schools where you can get a spot and make an impact. Look to build your game and transfer to a bigger school! Make a plan!!! Talk to your school counselors...

I have a son that saw how political ODP can be (they are really trying to clean things up and using new coaches, etc. now) and after one year would not participate again. He has however caught the attention of some college coaches by going to camps at the colleges he was interested in attending and also by playing in the SunBowl and telling the coaches of the colleges that he was accepted at that he would be there. So without ODP he will most likely be playing on a very competative Div. I soccer team. Another son has been on ODP for several years. SC because of past failures with ODP has a hard time competing with a lot of the other states in region III. One of the things that hurts SC is the dual participation bill, because ODP players are only given certain dates in which they can train together as a team. If we can get the neanderthals to correct this injustice to our kids, there can be more weekend training during the spring so that we are better prepared as a team to compete in sub-regionals and regionals. Then if you are playing on a competative ODP team you'll attract more attention of college coaches.

To Soccermum:

My son plays on the '88 ODP team in North Carolina. I am not sure how things are done in South Carolina, but, here all the ODP coaches are college coaches (Division 1 or 2 for the head coaches). From what I can see, the team has been selected based on merit, not politics. You can always question 1 or 2 selections, but, I am not a soccer coach, so, they must see something that I don't. The coach admits that the selection process is not perfect, that is why he has a pool of around 50 players, of which 18 are going to participate in a tournament in Nantes, France in April. He selected two teams of 18 to play at the ODP tournament this January in Jekyll Island and said he will select two teams for the event in Charleston and the camp in Alabama this summer.

All NC ODP teams practice 2x/month from January until June. Our soccer season for high school age (U-15 and above) players is high school in the fall and club soccer in the spring. We do not have the "dual-participation" rule that makes it difficult for your ODP teams to train properly.

I agree with you, that if you play on a good ODP team or are good enough to make the Regional team, you will get looked at by many more Division 1 coaches. However, our club is affiliated with Duke, NC State, and UNC, so players can and will get looked at by these head coaches when they get to be U-17 or older. ODP does help with visibility, but, there are other ways such as major tournaments that will help too.

I've been with ODP for like 4 or ofive years now and every year the coaches help my skills progress and in the long run everyone says it pays off. I love ODP but i don't like the political terms that they bace it on. Esspecially for the guys. For girls ODP i know they are political and from guys around here who just quit ODP they say it is to. But ODP is a good program and i suggest if you want to go some where with it you should stick with it.