ODP Weekend

[Anonymous]

If you went to PA or NJ, what did you think? My kid went and loved it. It seems special to represent your state and play against kids you’ve never seen before.

Fully aware it’s not the elite thing it once was -> no need to remind me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you went to PA or NJ, what did you think? My kid went and loved it. It seems special to represent your state and play against kids you’ve never seen before.

Fully aware it’s not the elite thing it once was -> no need to remind me.

Same experience. Probably overpriced for what it is, and I'm not sure I've been overly impressed with the coaches, but my kid enjoys it and has met a lot of other young soccer players in the area who he probably never would have otherwise met.

[Anonymous]

Ummm that may have been the nicest grass turf on the east coast… granted they provide grass to nfl teams and our homes.

Kiddo loved the experience…. Parent wasn’t high on the driving but it was nicer than PA imo. Kids networked and play a bit looser. Competition varied from tough to blowout.

Its a good experience at younger ages. Levels off a bit as kids get older then goes back to being competitive when they hit hs.

[Anonymous]

Turf was so thick it was hard to play. U14. Lots of air balls because ground passes were too slow. Some of the grass had big divots and holes that smelled like cow poo according to the kids. Wind was ferocious. Competition from NE was unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

Wait, I’m genuinely interested of the grass fields were nice or not.

I grew up in Northern Europe, where the grass soccer fields put US golf courses to shame. Game fields there were never practiced on (only used for matches).

It is so weird to me that my kids will likely never experience that. They play almost exclusively on turf, and the few grass fields they play on are just ok.

[Anonymous]

Beautiful fields in NJ. Frustrating to play against the same teams we played in friendlies (and beat). Gorgeous weather. Middle of no where. Some of the 11 v 11 fields were in rough shape sunday (rough for gorgeous grass turf). Kid loved it. Felt very pay to play for me. Very white and large SUV crowd.

[Anonymous]

ODP is a thing in the pass. You pay $$ to play in front of coaches, pray and hope you get selected to pay more money for tournaments and camps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ODP is a thing in the pass. You pay $$ to play in front of coaches, pray and hope you get selected to pay more money for tournaments and camps.

I was born in the 80's and did ODP.... Wasn't it always pay to play?

[Anonymous]

It is way cheaper than a standard club but yeah, the whole soccer landscape is pay to play. The idea of having 4 hours on a weeknight to get your kid to and from a practice that is over an hour away just screams privilege. But it’s all like that. Private training is a huge cottage industry too, and trust me, the best kids all do it.
I have become very cynical during my DC’s soccer journey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is way cheaper than a standard club but yeah, the whole soccer landscape is pay to play. The idea of having 4 hours on a weeknight to get your kid to and from a practice that is over an hour away just screams privilege. But it’s all like that. Private training is a huge cottage industry too, and trust me, the best kids all do it.
I have become very cynical during my DC’s soccer journey.

+1
Complete and utter money grab. Caveat emptor. Truly you don’t get what you pay for in this market. Michael Lewis was right - travel sports anything should be investigated in this country. No standards. No real ethics - and Anthony Travel monopoly with tournament hotels - and kickback to clubs - is the first place to start.

[Anonymous]

That was nice grass....have the ODP East region ID Camp invites go out yet? I know they say some were sent pre-tournament, but more should go out after tournament.

[Anonymous]

Kiddo had a good time. Got to see friends from far away places and coaches seemed to take a genuine interest in the kids. Probably last game but worth it overall. Fields were "plush" in NJ. Really thick and beautiful but a little too thick for U14 soccer imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ODP is a thing in the pass. You pay $$ to play in front of coaches, pray and hope you get selected to pay more money for tournaments and camps.

I was born in the 80's and did ODP.... Wasn't it always pay to play?

It was...but you were selected first. Now it's just show up and you're in!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ODP is a thing in the pass. You pay $$ to play in front of coaches, pray and hope you get selected to pay more money for tournaments and camps.

I was born in the 80's and did ODP.... Wasn't it always pay to play?

It was...but you were selected first. Now it's just show up and you're in!

That’s not true. You still have to try out and be good. I’ve had two boys try out. One easily made it (MLSNext player) and the other did not. We did not do it bc we had only planned to do it if both got in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ODP is a thing in the pass. You pay $$ to play in front of coaches, pray and hope you get selected to pay more money for tournaments and camps.

I was born in the 80's and did ODP.... Wasn't it always pay to play?

It was...but you were selected first. Now it's just show up and you're in!

That’s not true. You still have to try out and be good. I’ve had two boys try out. One easily made it (MLSNext player) and the other did not. We did not do it bc we had only planned to do it if both got in.

Thank you for replying with a factual comment of a real life example instead of just talking smack on a board.
Ofcoarse you have to tryout for ODP. It is all subjective, but better, more technical players get selected and have a good experience playing against other quality players.
At the U12 level, many players who are skilled dribbler at tryouts against lesser opponents quickly see that if you cannot pass at the higher level, you can't play. Good players won't let you dribble through 2 of them...
You will lose the ballnor get fouled. Overall the higher the level the player goes they get to see how hard they need to work to get to an even higher level. In that sense, ODP is great.