Are ODP players the best players on your team?

[Unregistered]

Keep in mind that when ODP selections are made, the coaches are forming a team. So, like another poster said they want flexibility and playing multiple positions well as opposed to playing one position very well is valued. Also, depending on tryouts on any given year they may have many more trying out in one position than another making the selections look skewed.

[Unregistered]

From the mouth of a parent very involved with ODP: "if you're going to ODP for great training- don't. You'll experience better training with your club coach/team and save money doing so. If you're going to ODP so your player can have extra soccer, more touches on the ball-get involved with ODP."

I'm curious about this. (Not agreeing or disagreeing, just wondering.) At least for the 96G, the primary coaches were Gaff, Frasier, and Angela, all of whom I believe are very well respected. Is it that there is not enough time with the players, inconsistency because of possible training/coaching differences between ODP and Club, etc.? Thanks.

[Unregistered]

Boys ODP what is has become

US Dev Academy has diluted the talent pool for ODP teams in all 4 Regions and particularly in No. Cal, So. Cal, Washington, Colorado in Region 4. Oregon ODP teams have been hit hardest by the elite club WSM boys electing to stay with the club team and play in events like Disney Showcase, Surf Cup, Dallas Cup, Nomads and Regionals. More college coaches to evaluate them at than events than the linfield oregon camp or Region IV championships. but most important the players who could easily make a State ODP team, they have much more comfort playing with a regionally competitive club side, where they have a niche position and role to showcase. Vs. OPD where you just get drawn out of a hat to play with other drawn out of hat young men all giving it their best to shine at an individual level--which is normal. Problem is the talent isn't strong enough for the Oregon ODP to shine A to Z vs. the other average Region IV teams, but the special player will and can look good in this wide open less organized and less competitive level.

Oregon ODP on the Boy's side is a nice vechicle of exposure (attention/eyes on you) not training or really significant competition since all the ODP teams are basically pick-up games between selected players it's a decent showcase of talent if you our good enough to shine as an individual for the one week at Regional Camp, and raise an eye brow at the championships each January that Oregon still has managed to win even with the significant dilution.

2 to 4 of the best individuals from the entire state at each group do have a chance to move on to a Regional paper squa..an abberation will see it's way to the Natl pool usually only at th u13, u14 and sometimes u15 level. At U16 and above nearly every player selected to a National paper squad is selected via US dev Academy.

The young men 15 and above would be better served joining an Adult local men's team in the off time or even an adult indoor men's competitive team. Far less expensive and they can learn off the older mature experienced player.

Oregon ODP is an option for boys' to explore, if you are really special it can be a younger aged exposure to other great younger aged players.

Are the best players in the ODP of course not all the Best players our in the club system.

[Unregistered]

It depends on the year of ODP, some are stronger than others. There has been some players that belong on ODP and are there, along with others who would never try out but should. There are players that have speed and NO ball skills who are ODP players. Is it really all about speed? Aren't ball skills important? Can you really teach a U14 player ball skills? Shouldn't the player already have the ball skills? Of course there is the political aspect.... There are some players who have been chosen for the ODP squad, but not been one of the chosen players to go to a tournament. Now these players (or should I say parents) think it is political that their player has not been chosen. The coaches of the age are from one club and their player is from a different club. Is it right? No, but does it happen, yes. When will the players be chosen by their ability and not their club association? Will there ever be impartial coaches making choices? This applies to both boys and girls. Enough on the soap box....

The real question -- So in my opinion, sometimes it is true that the ODP players are the best on the team but not all the time.

[Unregistered]

Simple answer it's not relevant or significant

? are the best players from your team on ODP?

that's a team by team question for the team coach. Not a parent's opinion.

In the end since ODP does not identify and subsidize the program in Oregon (free for everyone selected) it's really not even a fair question.

If ODP had qualified coaches who scouted league games and non sanctioned games identifying the 'best' players then you would never have to ask this random question.
It would be rhetorical. Bringing in players who were shining at different stages of development and having them take the place of others who are not shining though selected prior. geez, this resembles how all National teams select and move players.

But like the NCAAb basketball tourney and ALL Star selections for MLB/NBA/NFL their would be a handful of bubble players who didn't make it. Right now if you tryout your chances of making it are pretty good over 50% when only 30 or 50 kids tryout at a give age group. For a pool of 25 to 50 players depending on the age and gender.

[Unregistered]

ODP Selection

ODP selection is like most things involved with soccer (in this state and others) overly subjective and political with too many people (parents and coaches) who know each other involved in the selection process. That causes many kids to miss out. There's no question in my mind that it makes a kid who participates a better player -- most frequently by improving his or her fitness and aggressiveness. That's a good thing. Whether the ODP players on a team are the better players on that team is case-by-case, but the answer is usually yes. They play more, play harder and it shows. That said, there are plenty of non-ODP kids out there playing who can more than hold their own against ODP players at every age group.

[Unregistered]

ODP, best players?

First of all, ODP teams are created the same way as any other. A bunch of players come to tryouts, demonstrate their skills and the coaches select the ones they want. Are all the best players from the club teams trying out? No. Do the coaches always select the best? No.

My child's team has been consistently in the top 2 or 3 teams in their age bracket for the last several years. No ODP players at all. No-one has been interested or been selected. The best players have shown little interest. Maybe because they already get the coaching they want and have a pretty heavy time commitment with their club team.

[Unregistered]

Players who participate in ODP certainly stand out as some of the best players on any given club team. However, other players who chose instead to devote their time to cross-training sports (track for speed and focus, basketball for mental toughness and aggression), easily stand out as ODP equals....at least on our team. As players hit high school, standing out on the field is probably more about attitude and confidence than anything. ODP does seem to provide great opportunities. But don't underplay the equal benefit of instead choosing to be a multi-sport athlete. Their is certainly less soccer burn-out with this group.

[Unregistered]

Players who participate in ODP certainly stand out as some of the best players on any given club team. However, other players who chose instead to devote their time to cross-training sports

Plenty of ODP players also play basketball and run track. It's not either/or (although it may require some sacrifice in making practices, etc.).

[Unregistered]

It may be true of the younger ODP ages (junior high level) when school sports are more recreational, but very few older ODP girls compete in varsity basketball and track at the
high school level. For most players, it is one or the other.

[Unregistered]

It may be true of the younger ODP ages (junior high level) when school sports are more recreational, but very few older ODP girls compete in varsity basketball and track at the
high school level. For most players, it is one or the other.

I don't think that has much to do with ODP. As kids get older, fewer compete in multiple sports - that's true regardless of whether or not ODP even exists. Nevertheless, I know several ODP kids that continue to compete at a high level in basketball and track as they're often the better overall athletes.

[Unregistered]

ODP the best? Or just who they know...

My experience has been that ODP has some hits and some misses, but the real clincher is who knows who... all it takes is a call. ODP is a nice feather in the cap, a nice plus to the player's resume. If they can get on the team, great, if they can't, well... hopefully the politics get minimized as they work onto college squads.

[Arsenal_U14G_Fan]

My experience has been that ODP has some hits and some misses, but the real clincher is who knows who... all it takes is a call. ODP is a nice feather in the cap, a nice plus to the player's resume. If they can get on the team, great, if they can't, well... hopefully the politics get minimized as they work onto college squads.

I don't agree in entirety. I think if a player is an impact player then there are no politics to worry about. I would not know who to call and my daughter has made ODP on her own from year to year, has been rostered consistently as an impact player and has made the regional pool and rostered (for what it was worth) once on the regional. I personally have not seen all the politics for these top players.

Maybe a phone call is all that is required if you are on the fence but to truly participate you have to bring it, and I can promise you that at our age group that is precisely what these kiddos do. I think the coaches do pick the right kids. There are a handful of positions that are not spoken for with impact players and those are the ones that get filled each time from the pool and could potentially have some politics involved, although I have no knowledge of that happening. These are the people that will probably sit on the bench during hard games and get to try during the easier games.

These are just my opinions and I have to say that we have had a great experience with ODP.

[Unregistered]

Sometimes "politics" means favoritism, sometimes it doesn't.

My daughter has tried out for ODP twice. One year she made it, one year she didn't. The first year, she made it and we did not know anybody. (In fact, we are from Washington, so literally, knew NOBODY). It was a great boost to her confidence, and I consider that year of ODP to be one of her best soccer experiences. She made several good friends that she talks to to this day.

The next year, she tried out again. She tried out at center mid, because that is the position she plays and the one she feels most comfortable at. She made that choice despite knowing that there were several girls who were probably more physically gifted than her (and definitely more physically imposing) who had been rostered on the team the year before at center mid. At the end of the day, she did not make the team. Do I, with my "parent colored glasses", think she is better than some who made the team? Absolutely.

BUT....
They get a snapshot, over a couple day period, and make a judgement. If your child is a "bubble" player, as my daughter is, then other things enter into the decision. If you know one player more than the other, and in your eyes from that snapshot they are at about the same level, do you go with the one you know has heart, or the new one you are not familiar with? Do you go with one from your club you have seen play? Or one from across the river? Those things weigh in, absolutely. But they only matter as tie breakers.

So the answer is, as Arsenal Fan said, get off the bubble, and politics don't matter. Despite the fact my daughter did not make ODP this year, I still think it was one of the more positive soccer experiences in her young life. Some of that was due to the soccer, but most of it was from the relationships that she formed.

[Unregistered]

They get a snapshot, over a couple day period, and make a judgement.

If your daughter made it one year but not the next, then tryouts were only a small part of it (if any at all). By that time your daughter was a "known quantity" and it was her play on the previous year of ODP that is likely to have factored into the decision more than the tryouts. I don't understand why parents don't realize this.