2018 ODP West Schedule is out.

[MakeAPlay]

At U12/U13/U14, it's true that no college scouts are watching (unless they happen to walk by between games), but it does raise your kids' profile in the eyes of his or her coaches, who sometimes take kids for granted until someone else spots them, and you get some credibility in tryouts with Academy and other clubs if you're interested in that. This is particularly true if you're the only player from a middling local club, since there's little chance your coach/technical director pulled strings to get you on the team and there's also little chance other coaches are going to assume you must be good on club name alone.

None of that is really the reason to do it, however. The benefit is playing with strong players, often at a different position (a lot of center midfielders end up playing outside mid or wingback on an ODP team), with different coaches and against teams from other states with different styles, some of which are good and some not, but all generally opportunities to learn. The goalkeepers, especially, are getting college GK coaches warming them up during every training and before every game and offering technical and tactical instruction, usually for about 30-40 minutes. Most GKs get none of that before games with their clubs.

Is it worth the time/money (not much, but not nothing if you are traveling to watch your kid)? It has more upside and opens more doors than guest playing at an out-of-town tournament, which lots of people do despite the cost in time and $. You're not likely to get an invite to a USYNT camp because of ODP, but it might help you get better/get opportunities to advance. Kids also like the feeling of pride representing something bigger than their team or club when they play for their state/region.

Does that mean they pick the "best" players? Out of ~7000 in an age group from San Diego to San Luis Obisbo? Obviously, there are tons of players who are overlooked. Even those parents who think they know who the "best" players are, base that on the best teams in the best leagues/tournaments and likely miss a kid from a middling team that isn't at national cup where they scout players. It's not really all that different from Academy. You have to be in the right place, at the right time, and even then you might not get selected or invited back. Probably the biggest thing is to be humble about it, because both DA and ODP have become diluted over the years and even when they really were rare opportunities, they missed kids and made odd choices.

Most of the kids in SoCal got their first call ups to YNT teams through ODP.

 

[Dargle]

Most of the kids in SoCal got their first call ups to YNT teams through ODP.

I know that, but with the advent of DA, I think it's probably fairer to acknowledge that ODP isn't quite the same pathway as it used to be, without at all denigrating the experience it continues to be.

 

[MakeAPlay]

I know that, but with the advent of DA, I think it's probably fairer to acknowledge that ODP isn't quite the same pathway as it used to be, without at all denigrating the experience it continues to be.

That remains to be seen. I remember hearing the same end of ODP scenario when ECNL first came on the scene. With how uneven competition can be across gaming circuits it gives college coaches a better idea of how a player will perform against real competition.

We will see what impact GDA has. It sucks that kids can't do both. My player went through ODP and ECNL from start to finish and both experiences helped to shape her into the player that she is today.

Good luck to you and your player.

 

[Dargle]

That remains to be seen. I remember hearing the same end of ODP scenario when ECNL first came on the scene. With how uneven competition can be across gaming circuits it gives college coaches a better idea of how a player will perform against real competition.

We will see what impact GDA has. It sucks that kids can't do both. My player went through ODP and ECNL from start to finish and both experiences helped to shape her into the player that she is today.

Good luck to you and your player.

Thanks. I'm on the boys side and we've already seen the impact in terms of players called into the pool who don't show up because of DA or later depart for DA. So, we know the player pool has been diluted, although by the same token we know kids who stayed and did club+ODP or returned from DA voluntarily to do ODP, so neither ODP nor DA are really as good as they could be under a unified system. I do think there is a place for ODP. In fact, one of the problems with DA is that many kids live far away from DA clubs, have parents who work and can't drive them to practices far away 4x/week, and they can't afford DA fees + travel expenses even if they can go (and they aren't near the few full scholarship DA clubs). Cal South's Pro+ Nike sponsorship mitigates the financial issue and the fact that ODP really only involves 3-4 training/playing periods per year helps with the travel issue.

 

[Not_that_Serious]

Thanks. I'm on the boys side and we've already seen the impact in terms of players called into the pool who don't show up because of DA or later depart for DA. So, we know the player pool has been diluted, although by the same token we know kids who stayed and did club+ODP or returned from DA voluntarily to do ODP, so neither ODP nor DA are really as good as they could be under a unified system. I do think there is a place for ODP. In fact, one of the problems with DA is that many kids live far away from DA clubs, have parents who work and can't drive them to practices far away 4x/week, and they can't afford DA fees + travel expenses even if they can go (and they aren't near the few full scholarship DA clubs). Cal South's Pro+ Nike sponsorship mitigates the financial issue and the fact that ODP really only involves 3-4 training/playing periods per year helps with the travel issue.

On the boys side this year i have also seen players return due to parents not happy with DA and them telling coaches the kids have "regressed". Depends on coaching. If you look at regional results, ODP teams are strong. Many/most of these kids can play DA but dont - just depends on what playwr and parents want