Alternative to ODP

[Unregistered]

The overall premise of your idea has merit - have something more selective for some top players in the area to give them extra training and opportunities - but has some hurdles. First, some clubs may resist because they won't want their top talent discovered or for them to discover other clubs and coaches. There would have to be some reassurances about poaching. There could be registration and insurance issues. Memorial DA is a no-go as almost all clubs play in tournaments and players would be obliged to play for their clubs then. As a kind of non-team with no record you wouldn't get into the better tournaments whenever they are.

Volunteer coaches? Forgive me - but it's all about the coaching. How exactly do you plan on getting decent volunteer coaches? And its already been said before, but you won't have a chance of getting club players to play in tournaments over any holiday weekend. If you don't have club players then you have town players - the level of play will be low enough that participation will not be good and no -it won't be able to replace ODP.

[Unregistered]

Volunteer coaches? Forgive me - but it's all about the coaching. How exactly do you plan on getting decent volunteer coaches? And its already been said before, but you won't have a chance of getting club players to play in tournaments over any holiday weekend. If you don't have club players then you have town players - the level of play will be low enough that participation will not be good and no -it won't be able to replace ODP.

I think there's enough "town" players around that can field a decent team.

That's pretty much ODP is anyway. I see where the OP is going with his thinking.

As someone else mentioned, though, the brackets will be tough to overcome.

[Unregistered]

Volunteer coaches? Forgive me - but it's all about the coaching. How exactly do you plan on getting decent volunteer coaches? And its already been said before, but you won't have a chance of getting club players to play in tournaments over any holiday weekend. If you don't have club players then you have town players - the level of play will be low enough that participation will not be good and no -it won't be able to replace ODP.

In our club we rely on volunteer coaches, and yes the quality can be variable, but our best coaches are on par with any paid youth coach in NH (and better than a lot).

The feeback on holiday weekends has been valuable, so I'm now looking at summer tournaments.

[Unregistered]

Volunteer coaches? Forgive me - but it's all about the coaching. How exactly do you plan on getting decent volunteer coaches? And its already been said before, but you won't have a chance of getting club players to play in tournaments over any holiday weekend. If you don't have club players then you have town players - the level of play will be low enough that participation will not be good and no -it won't be able to replace ODP.

OP here and I never mentioned volunteer coaches. I assumed it would be pro coaches, maybe rotating ones from clubs that send players to the program. I also assumed salaries would be covered by the fees. There are some volunteer coaches who are good but they're few and far between.

[Unregistered]

The feeback on holiday weekends has been valuable, so I'm now looking at summer tournaments.

Much better plan.

[Unregistered]

OP here and I never mentioned volunteer coaches. I assumed it would be pro coaches, maybe rotating ones from clubs that send players to the program. I also assumed salaries would be covered by the fees. There are some volunteer coaches who are good but they're few and far between.

Just to be clear, as there was some confusion earlier in the thread, I am the OP (in the sense of the Original Poster of this thread), and I am aiming for this to use volunteer coaches to keep costs low.

[Unregistered]

In our club we rely on volunteer coaches, and yes the quality can be variable, but our best coaches are on par with any paid youth coach in NH (and better than a lot).

The feeback on holiday weekends has been valuable, so I'm now looking at summer tournaments.

In your biased, uneducated opinion....

[Unregistered]

I think there's enough "town" players around that can field a decent team.

That's pretty much ODP is anyway. I see where the OP is going with his thinking.

As someone else mentioned, though, the brackets will be tough to overcome.

What are you smoking? Almost all ODP players are club. I’ve seen 1or 2 town players in the last few years. This is all a very nice plan but will go nowhere with town players.

[Unregistered]

In your biased, uneducated opinion....

Great addition to the discussion.

[Unregistered]

What are you smoking? Almost all ODP players are club. I’ve seen 1or 2 town players in the last few years. This is all a very nice plan but will go nowhere with town players.

As I've been learning about US soccer, I've realized that many people consider Seacoast and GPS as 'Club Soccer' teams, and everyone else as 'Town Travel'.

[Unregistered]

I would agree, most consider GPS/Seacoast as "Club", World Cup as "Town Travel" and others as "Town".

Basically there are very few Club playrs in ODP as it offers nothing for them. For Town kids ODP would seem to be way to expensive for what you get. You are stuck with those that can't play well but can pay!

[Unregistered]

In our club we rely on volunteer coaches, and yes the quality can be variable, but our best coaches are on par with any paid youth coach in NH (and better than a lot).

The feeback on holiday weekends has been valuable, so I'm now looking at summer tournaments.

So, it sounds like you are looking to gather the best players from the smaller clubs in your area (i.e. not from GPS or Seacoast), but not your average town players. I think a summer program would be perfect for this. People join these smaller clubs for a few reason, one is financial, another is time commitment, as in, the kids are involved in other activities and may only have one or two days a week open to fit soccer practice in. Moving the program to the summer would avoid conflicts with other school year activities and spring sports. If you could find a late summer tournament, you may even be able to get in 6 weeks of practice, rather than just the few you had mentioned previously. Parents are always looking for evening activities for their kids during the summer, so I say go for it.

[Unregistered]

I would agree, most consider GPS/Seacoast as "Club", World Cup as "Town Travel" and others as "Town".

Basically there are very few Club playrs in ODP as it offers nothing for them. For Town kids ODP would seem to be way to expensive for what you get. You are stuck with those that can't play well but can pay!

Not from NH, but I can tell you that in MA ODP, there are no town-travel only players... period. It is exclusively club players made up of NEP Premiership/NPL/ECNL level players.

By "club", I would say GPS/Seacoast/FC Stars/NEFC/Scorpions/Bolts...

[Unregistered]

So, it sounds like you are looking to gather the best players from the smaller clubs in your area (i.e. not from GPS or Seacoast), but not your average town players. I think a summer program would be perfect for this. People join these smaller clubs for a few reason, one is financial, another is time commitment, as in, the kids are involved in other activities and may only have one or two days a week open to fit soccer practice in. Moving the program to the summer would avoid conflicts with other school year activities and spring sports. If you could find a late summer tournament, you may even be able to get in 6 weeks of practice, rather than just the few you had mentioned previously. Parents are always looking for evening activities for their kids during the summer, so I say go for it.

Exactly. I've started to reach out to other nearby clubs and so far the response is positive. I'm leaning towards trying it out with 2-4 teams next spring/summer.

[Unregistered]

There was a group of boys from World Cup and other hand picked players who trained indoors during the winter, entered the Scorpion Bowl preseason tournament then returned to their original teams. Wednesday was strength training at Dynamic Strength & Conditioning in Nashua and Sunday was soccer skills at an indoor turf facility. Cost was $275 which included tournament entry and a uniform. They won their bracket at the Scorpion Bowl in 2014 http://home.gotsoccer.com/rankings/t...y=yes&compact=