YNT Pathway

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a lot of bitter parents on this forum. I guess your kid wasn’t picked? Anyhow, even in the major sports in the US this stuff happens. Lots of top 100 HS recruits never make it to the NFL or NBA much less a national team or the Pro Bowl. Kids change. They grow, they mentally mature, they lose interest, they gain interest, etc. Hard to find the diamonds in the rough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is knocking ODP. What they are telling you is the reality of today's landscape. Elite players are mostly in ECNL/GA. Big clubs or strong teams produce the lion's share of invites. Look at the latest invites from the area (Bethesda (2), FCV (2), Pipeline (2) and Richmond (3)). Solar, PDA, Real Col, LAFC, Real SolCal, etc., have track records of delivering top talent. If you are not on an ECNL/GA team then ODP is your main option unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

OP here, thanks for the responses. Nobody is disputing which league the elite players are (mostly) in. ODP is not mutually exclusive from club because players can participate in both. How many of the ODP players are in ECNL, for example? If they are in both ODP and ECNL is it their presence and performance at the ODP events that get them into YNT radar more so than an ECNL match?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a lot of bitter parents on this forum. I guess your kid wasn’t picked? Anyhow, even in the major sports in the US this stuff happens. Lots of top 100 HS recruits never make it to the NFL or NBA much less a national team or the Pro Bowl. Kids change. They grow, they mentally mature, they lose interest, they gain interest, etc. Hard to find the diamonds in the rough.

Exactly why the current system doesn't work, because of pay to play. The best US soccer player never played soccer, because his family couldn't afford it. The major American sports use high school as their platform for competition, even though that is changing rapidly as well. Other sports are seeing how much money is being made by soccer and are starting to chase that model. There is a counter argument which I get though. Why should my tax money go to funding a high school basketball, football, or baseball team that my child doesn't play for? What is the benefit of school sports to the kids who don't play? Can that be quantified? Maybe with high school football ticket sales in Texas you can make money at it, but I doubt other sports would break even.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is knocking ODP. What they are telling you is the reality of today's landscape. Elite players are mostly in ECNL/GA. Big clubs or strong teams produce the lion's share of invites. Look at the latest invites from the area (Bethesda (2), FCV (2), Pipeline (2) and Richmond (3)). Solar, PDA, Real Col, LAFC, Real SolCal, etc., have track records of delivering top talent. If you are not on an ECNL/GA team then ODP is your main option unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

OP here, thanks for the responses. Nobody is disputing which league the elite players are (mostly) in. ODP is not mutually exclusive from club because players can participate in both. How many of the ODP players are in ECNL, for example? If they are in both ODP and ECNL is it their presence and performance at the ODP events that get them into YNT radar more so than an ECNL match?

My son did VA state ODP for the first time this year. In his age group, best as I can tell from the list there were 4 players from ECNL clubs. That is out of almost 50 kids. I don't know if they were on their club's top team. We don't do it for YNT exposure though, which you wouldn't get anyways at a state level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is knocking ODP. What they are telling you is the reality of today's landscape. Elite players are mostly in ECNL/GA. Big clubs or strong teams produce the lion's share of invites. Look at the latest invites from the area (Bethesda (2), FCV (2), Pipeline (2) and Richmond (3)). Solar, PDA, Real Col, LAFC, Real SolCal, etc., have track records of delivering top talent. If you are not on an ECNL/GA team then ODP is your main option unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

OP here, thanks for the responses. Nobody is disputing which league the elite players are (mostly) in. ODP is not mutually exclusive from club because players can participate in both. How many of the ODP players are in ECNL, for example? If they are in both ODP and ECNL is it their presence and performance at the ODP events that get them into YNT radar more so than an ECNL match?

On the girls side, there frequently is not time to do both ODP plus ECNL plus the side training and conditioning that the girls do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a lot of bitter parents on this forum. I guess your kid wasn’t picked? Anyhow, even in the major sports in the US this stuff happens. Lots of top 100 HS recruits never make it to the NFL or NBA much less a national team or the Pro Bowl. Kids change. They grow, they mentally mature, they lose interest, they gain interest, etc. Hard to find the diamonds in the rough.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

This is almost impossible even if you are "a true baller". One kid, no matter how talented, cannot operate outside the constraints of his team. The best striker in the world does not win a game unless his teammates can deliver him the ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

This is almost impossible even if you are "a true baller". One kid, no matter how talented, cannot operate outside the constraints of his team. The best striker in the world does not win a game unless his teammates can deliver him the ball.

Exactly—sums up Jody Altidore’s career with USMNT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

This is almost impossible even if you are "a true baller". One kid, no matter how talented, cannot operate outside the constraints of his team. The best striker in the world does not win a game unless his teammates can deliver him the ball.

Exactly—sums up Jody Altidore’s career with USMNT

Altidore is the best striker in the world? I assume you’re being tongue in cheek?

As far as a true baller, I do think at younger ages, and the fact that soccer is such a low scoring sport, that a kid that has a knack for beating defenders and scoring can make a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Soccer is an extreme team sport. Very difficult for one star to do too much with out a decent team once they get to an age where all the players have a base level of capability.

[Anonymous]

The YNT players that make it beyond the training centers from what I have seen are freakishly talented mostly.

There are certainly some political picks here and there and now and then but I doubt that that would happen much beyond the youth level.

[Anonymous]

Of course, they are all from the demographic that plays competitive youth soccer in this country but that ship has sailed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is knocking ODP. What they are telling you is the reality of today's landscape. Elite players are mostly in ECNL/GA. Big clubs or strong teams produce the lion's share of invites. Look at the latest invites from the area (Bethesda (2), FCV (2), Pipeline (2) and Richmond (3)). Solar, PDA, Real Col, LAFC, Real SolCal, etc., have track records of delivering top talent. If you are not on an ECNL/GA team then ODP is your main option unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

OP here, thanks for the responses. Nobody is disputing which league the elite players are (mostly) in. ODP is not mutually exclusive from club because players can participate in both. How many of the ODP players are in ECNL, for example? If they are in both ODP and ECNL is it their presence and performance at the ODP events that get them into YNT radar more so than an ECNL match?

My son did VA state ODP for the first time this year. In his age group, best as I can tell from the list there were 4 players from ECNL clubs. That is out of almost 50 kids. I don't know if they were on their club's top team. We don't do it for YNT exposure though, which you wouldn't get anyways at a state level.

Interesting, thanks for the info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

This is almost impossible even if you are "a true baller". One kid, no matter how talented, cannot operate outside the constraints of his team. The best striker in the world does not win a game unless his teammates can deliver him the ball.

Exactly—sums up Jody Altidore’s career with USMNT

Altidore is the best striker in the world? I assume you’re being tongue in cheek?

As far as a true baller, I do think at younger ages, and the fact that soccer is such a low scoring sport, that a kid that has a knack for beating defenders and scoring can make a big difference.

Yes - up to say U10 a single player can take over a game, and even older than this at lower levels of play. BUT the poster here is not talking about those ages since he is referring to YNT, ECNL/GA, JefCup etc. all of which imply older age groups. At those ages, the best player in the state on a medicore team is not going to accomplish much. And - as the best player he is likely to be playing in a position where he may well even not get noticed if his teammates cannot get him the ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is knocking ODP. What they are telling you is the reality of today's landscape. Elite players are mostly in ECNL/GA. Big clubs or strong teams produce the lion's share of invites. Look at the latest invites from the area (Bethesda (2), FCV (2), Pipeline (2) and Richmond (3)). Solar, PDA, Real Col, LAFC, Real SolCal, etc., have track records of delivering top talent. If you are not on an ECNL/GA team then ODP is your main option unless you are just a true baller and can put a hurting on the top kids from ECNL/GA clubs in the top bracket at JefCup, CASL or Bethesda Cup.

OP here, thanks for the responses. Nobody is disputing which league the elite players are (mostly) in. ODP is not mutually exclusive from club because players can participate in both. How many of the ODP players are in ECNL, for example? If they are in both ODP and ECNL is it their presence and performance at the ODP events that get them into YNT radar more so than an ECNL match?

My son did VA state ODP for the first time this year. In his age group, best as I can tell from the list there were 4 players from ECNL clubs. That is out of almost 50 kids. I don't know if they were on their club's top team. We don't do it for YNT exposure though, which you wouldn't get anyways at a state level.

Interesting, thanks for the info.

My DS is at an ECNL (ex DA) club. ODP wasn't really on most of our radars as DA had not permitted the kids to particpate previously, but a couple of kids from the first team in his age group went. They felt the level was below the club training but still found the experience worthwhile and enjoyed it. My guess is that they will return next year, and maybe a few more teammates will sign up too.

If that were to become a trend, presumably ODP could become more relevant again although it would also make it more difficult to get selected to the higher levels. But you can't have one without the other.