ODP - Is it worth it?

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You mean like spending $2300 on Donosti cup? Oh wait there were no college coaches there either ... and everyone that applies gets into that tournament... and I can’t put it on a soccer resume ...

What's the Donosti Cup?

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What's the Donosti Cup?

https://www.donosticup.com/english.asp

Spanish vacation tournament

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Apparently, UT selects their pool in the spring and CO announces their rosters just before Thanksgiving. We, on the other hand, announce rosters less than 2 weeks before Regionals start and coaches only have 3 sessions to dial everything in; kudos to the coaches for achieving what they do with very little time to work with players.

I get that the fall season needs to conclude before convening ODP pools but surely there must be a workaround?

Anyone but the organization that runs ODP for Oregon can figure that out.

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Anyone but the organization that runs ODP for Oregon can figure that out.

Its a shame because the bones are there for a good prgm but the mgmt is lacking. If it were run outside the Timbers organization with a dedicated staff and total statewide club involvement, maybe the boys and girls teams would show better.

[Unregistered]

Our experience with ODP was poor. The coaching was sub-par in my opinion, the trainings were not great.

[Unregistered]

Our experience with ODP was poor. The coaching was sub-par in my opinion, the trainings were not great.

I can only speak for the boys but whole heartedly agree. I learned to realize it is a money grab and political, which is also reflected in the poor performance in the regional competitions. When we started we were told that it was imperative for our son to make it to be recognized. And while he made the team as well as the traveling squad every year, all we witnessed was a revolving door with coaches, philosophies, politics, and a singular goal of getting as many paying customers as possible with little in return. The majority of the boys and families started to realize this and stopped participating. We allowed our son to continue because he had a few froends that finally made the squad when the better players stopped returning, but there was zero expectations out of it other than socialism and getting additional touches against unknown (and always better) talent vs other ODP squads. Oregon ODP is pretty much recognized as bottom of the barrel for the region.

[Unregistered]

Ever notice how coaches like the best players and get a comfort level with them; then when these kids get picked for teams, people say it is political?

[Unregistered]

Ever notice how coaches like the best players and get a comfort level with them; then when these kids get picked for teams, people say it is political?

no, I think the political reference is when mediocre kids on mediocre teams get picked because there dad is.....

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no, I think the political reference is when mediocre kids on mediocre teams get picked because there dad is.....

Or the large majority of kids picked are from the coaches club team or alliance team. Far too many examples to be excused away as just random occurrences.

If there is money and adults involved, impossible for politics not to be involved.

[Unregistered]

We did it years ago. The coach picked some really questionable players. Turns out they were doing private training with him. He wasn't a good coach and the players weren't very good.

[Unregistered]

We did it years ago. The coach picked some really questionable players. Turns out they were doing private training with him. He wasn't a good coach and the players weren't very good.

I know exactly who you are referring to and yes it was a problem.

[Unregistered]

Or the large majority of kids picked are from the coaches club team or alliance team. Far too many examples to be excused away as just random occurrences.

If there is money and adults involved, impossible for politics not to be involved.

Or players that the coach is trying to recruit from a rival club.

[Unregistered]

My kid made the ODP teams most years but was never picked to travel. It was hard to watch because the same kids were always picked and many just because of preferential treatment. Some deserved it of course. The problem became that certain kids were grandfathered in because they used to be good and are well known. For this type of competitive program coaches need to pick the best not the kids on their teams or the kids that have always made it. We used it for resumes for college...not sure if it helped or not. This is just my opinion.

[Unregistered]

My kid made the ODP teams most years but was never picked to travel. It was hard to watch because the same kids were always picked and many just because of preferential treatment. Some deserved it of course. The problem became that certain kids were grandfathered in because they used to be good and are well known. For this type of competitive program coaches need to pick the best not the kids on their teams or the kids that have always made it. We used it for resumes for college...not sure if it helped or not. This is just my opinion.

Definitely something hard to explain to a young person the right way so they don't get discourage and just quit a activity they like and are good at.

[Unregistered]

Definitely something hard to explain to a young person the right way so they don't get discourage and just quit a activity they like and are good at.

I agree. My kid was motivated by it but it could have gone the other way just as easily.