NH ODP Waste of Money?

[NH Expatriate]

I spoke with some NH ODP parents last night who said that they felt the program was not worth the money spent.

Practices canceled last minute
Never a full compliment of players
Coaches strapped to train players with talent deficiencies
Teams not filled out to a week before Rider.

Is this the general consensus or am I just getting input from a few disgruntled parents?

NH ODP is, at best, a player identification process and player resume boost . It is not a vehicle for player development. If thought of in those terms, some of these complaints become less relevant. The real problem is that people are paying some big $ for the privilege of being identified and burnishing their credentials for, say, college.

Fair enough if you know this and you have a legitimate shot at being "identified." The odds of being identified from the NH pool, however, are low. If a player is good enough to emerge out of the NH pool to get to the regional pool, they probably don't need NH ODP to advance their bright playing future.

NH ODP wast of money

NH ODP is not about development. NH ODP is about player identification. Very few players from NH are identified. Attendnace at the identification camp is a waste of money unless you have a child who is an elite player, and there are only a few in NH. NH ODP winter training is a joke. It seems that NH ODP is unorganized and is a money making venture. Coaching is OK, but they do not get to work closely with the players, and they do not truly get to know the players.

US Soccer has recognized the problem with the ODP system and has created the US Development Academy. I have been told that the Academy does not permit players to play ODP, State Cup, Super Y or on club teams. The only exception is High School. I am curious if anyone has any further insight on this new program. I know the local clubs selected to participate are Seacost and Boston Bolts. The same model seems to work in other countries.

[NH Expatriate]

Re: NH ODP wast of money

NH ODP is not about development. NH ODP is about player identification. Very few players from NH are identified. Attendnace at the identification camp is a waste of money unless you have a child who is an elite player, and there are only a few in NH. NH ODP winter training is a joke. It seems that NH ODP is unorganized and is a money making venture. Coaching is OK, but they do not get to work closely with the players, and they do not truly get to know the players.

US Soccer has recognized the problem with the ODP system and has created the US Development Academy. I have been told that the Academy does not permit players to play ODP, State Cup, Super Y or on club teams. The only exception is High School. I am curious if anyone has any further insight on this new program. I know the local clubs selected to participate are Seacost and Boston Bolts. The same model seems to work in other countries.

If ODP is truely coming to an end in NH, and I sense that it is, the only ones who will suffer are the players from small communities who can't reach or can't afford club soccer.

[pitch420]

Re: NH ODP wast of money

NH ODP is not about development. NH ODP is about player identification. Very few players from NH are identified. Attendnace at the identification camp is a waste of money unless you have a child who is an elite player, and there are only a few in NH. NH ODP winter training is a joke. It seems that NH ODP is unorganized and is a money making venture. Coaching is OK, but they do not get to work closely with the players, and they do not truly get to know the players.

US Soccer has recognized the problem with the ODP system and has created the US Development Academy. I have been told that the Academy does not permit players to play ODP, State Cup, Super Y or on club teams. The only exception is High School. I am curious if anyone has any further insight on this new program. I know the local clubs selected to participate are Seacost and Boston Bolts. The same model seems to work in other countries.

If ODP is truely coming to an end in NH, and I sense that it is, the only ones who will suffer are the players from small communities who can't reach or can't afford club soccer.

I think the costs for ODP and most clubs are approximately the same except for any long distance travel the club team would do for tournaments.

NH Expat, you would be correct if NH ODP actually provided an outlet for kids from remote areas of the state or lesser means who, in either event, can't reach or afford high level club soccer. A review of the ODP rosters shows that the great majority of the kids come from the Seacoast or Classics programs. If, at the moment, an ODP player is not playing for them, they soon will! The program is a recruiting source for them.

kids that go to odp from small communites that dont play for seacoast or classics realize that there is some pretty good soccer out there. why wouldn't a kid coming from a less skillfull team, want to play with kids of equal talent? i dont think its recruiting as much as its i want to play with better players...just my thoughts!

[MASoccer]

Re: NH ODP wast of money

US Soccer has recognized the problem with the ODP system and has created the US Development Academy. I have been told that the Academy does not permit players to play ODP, State Cup, Super Y or on club teams. The only exception is High School. I am curious if anyone has any further insight on this new program. I know the local clubs selected to participate are Seacost and Boston Bolts. The same model seems to work in other countries.

The Academy is an untested product that in theory is worthwile, but remains to be seen if it will be successfull. In MA the FC Greater Boston Bolts are hosting the Academy for the U16 and U18 age groups. As of now they are having a bit of difficulty filling their roster. There have been rumors that my son's club New England Eagles had also applied, but I find it tough to believe that USSF would appoint another club in MA when the initial club is not filling out their roster spots.

You can find more information on the program here:
http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/vie...sp_557057.html
Currently there are 47 clubs nationwide that have been accepted into the program. Interestingly Texas with one of the largest youth soccer clubs in the country (Dallas Texans) is not on the list.

Overview:

U.S. SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY – STRUCTURE

Objective: The focus of the Academy is on player development and providing players with the best possible opportunity to develop to the highest level they are capable of achieving

Standards: A minimum requirement of three training sessions and one rest day per week

Teams: Up to 80 of the top youth soccer clubs in the U.S.

Selection: Clubs will be selected by U.S. Soccer Coaches on a rolling admissions basis. (Based on further discussions with interested clubs, we adopted a rolling admissions process to provide clubs with the best opportunity to schedule their upcoming calendar.)

Age Groups: U-16 & U-18 teams (minimum roster of 22 players); providing opportunities for more than 2,000 players

Competition Format: Divided into regions with each team playing between 30 and 38 home and away matches during an eight-month season. Each region will be comprised of approximately 15-20 teams based on geographic proximity. The winner of each region will play in the Academy Finals at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Currently therer are 47 clubs representing 22 states and the District of Columbia:

Clubs that are not part of U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy will continue to play in traditional youth soccer competitions, with the longtime Olympic Development Program also continuing unimpeded. With Development Academy players no longer being seen at ODP events, those spots will now be open for additional players to be seen at an elite level.

Players in the academy will not be able to participate in ODP, Region 1 Premier League or state cup. They will, however be able to continue with national team duties if relevant. Since the academy is effecting some high level teams in Region 1, it will be interesting to see how state cup and regionals will play out next year. In NE Seacoast, Bolts and Oakwood were named.

Re: NH ODP wast of money

The Academy is an untested product that in theory is worthwile, but remains to be seen if it will be successfull. In MA the FC Greater Boston Bolts are hosting the Academy for the U16 and U18 age groups. As of now they are having a bit of difficulty filling their roster. There have been rumors that my son's club New England Eagles had also applied, but I find it tough to believe that USSF would appoint another club in MA when the initial club is not filling out their roster spots.

You could be right. Other forums are also reporting issues. The FC Delco Hammerheads (actually rising U17s) were to become FC Delco's U18 Academy team have unanimously refused to join the Academy. The team has threatened to leave the club. The FC Delco's rising U18 team had no interest in joining the Academy either. The reasons is because it was felt too important to risk going with an unknown and still as of yet unorganized league. Potomac Soccer has similiar issues with one of their teams.

Re: NH ODP waste of money

US Soccer has recognized the problem with the ODP system and has created the US Development Academy. I have been told that the Academy does not permit players to play ODP, State Cup, Super Y or on club teams. The only exception is High School. I am curious if anyone has any further insight on this new program. I know the local clubs selected to participate are Seacost and Boston Bolts. The same model seems to work in other countries.

Players in the academy will not be able to participate in ODP, Region 1 Premier League or state cup. They will, however be able to continue with national team duties if relevant. Since the academy is effecting some high level teams in Region 1, it will be interesting to see how state cup and regionals will play out next year. In NE Seacoast, Bolts and Oakwood were named.

It was interesting in June during the Maple tryouts. The Bolt players were questioning the new academy program and it caused a "ripple" with several new faces appearing at Div. 1 Maple tryouts.

The Bolts problems are more related to coaching issues than academy issues. The coaches who had the U14, U15, U16 and U17 teams left. This has caused more disruption than the academy program. Had they remained, who knows how it would have turned out.

so seacoast won't be putting teams in state cup?

Re: NH ODP Waste of Money?

I just happened on this as I was looking to see if the ODP site had been up dated yet. My 2 cents are as follows: ODP in my opinion is/was worth every penny. My son is a U12er and plays travel in a town where only town kids that live in the town can play. We have cobbled together enough kids to compete well at GSYSL Div 1, but honestly, most of the team is Div2 at best. This greatly limits the development that my son (and other true Div 1 players) can receive on my team. My son did the Winter ODP session, the Spring team training and just got back from Kutztown and is absolutely fired up over soccer. ODP gave him the opportunity to play with like talented kids in an advanced, fast speed of play environment and develop to his potential. I realize this may be the 3 sigma case, and that for those in large clubs there may be more talent and infrastructure for player development on existing "premiere" teams than in ODP anyway. But lets not forget our Townees that do get a lot of ODP!!!!

Re: NH ODP Waste of Money?

I spoke with some NH ODP parents last night who said that they felt the program was not worth the money spent.

Practices canceled last minute
Never a full compliment of players
Coaches strapped to train players with talent deficiencies
Teams not filled out to a week before Rider.

Is this the general consensus or am I just getting input from a few disgruntled parents?

Depends on the age group. Some years are doing better than others.

Re: NH ODP Waste of Money?

Yup, its pretty much a wast of money. The scam starts again in a mere two weeks. By all means send your kid to the pool tryouts but the truth is, if you are good enough, you don't need to pool train all winter. The program will find you in March/early April. If you are training with your club this winter you'll get more from that anyway. If you do choose to pool train in the winter, you'll know pretty quickly -- 2 to 3 sessions -- whether they will take your child on the final roster. Get out without paying a cent if you are getting the wrong vibe -- no matter what they tell you. The program is built on taking $ from players they know from day one they will not select or that will never get a sniff of a regional pool slot.