How difficult is making the ODP Regional Pool?
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Anonymous
| Has your kid or your kid’s friend made the regional odp team? What club or level did they play at? DS saw this years ODP district and state roster(and pool) and was surprised to see some buddies who made it. Is it really that political as people say? Tell me your experience?! |
Anonymous
| If you are a decent player it is not too difficult. You just have to be technical. |
Anonymous
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MD or VA?
I’ve seen players making ODP this year that are not technical at all. |
Anonymous
Virginia. I’m sure a lot of the kids are very good, but we saw a few names that we were a bit surprised to see. Not that they are bad players, but they are not great. |
Anonymous
Agreed. One girl I know who made it is the least technical player on our team. She is a gifted athlete but has only been playing soccer for 2 years. She just powers down the field with shear force and speed and almost no technique. |
Anonymous
Regional? It is much more competitive on that level. And on the state level it is the "top team" in each age bracket that is the one to watch. |
Anonymous
It sort of sounds like the big jump is from State to Regional? |
Anonymous
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Apparently, this is the way it works during the normal year:
During the NC or VA scrimmage dates (when VA teams play teams from other states), the regional staff coaches are supposed to be there and evaluate players. They watch the games and pick players they like based on what they see in the game. Actual criteria is unknown... whatever stands out to them. |
Anonymous
| also if you made the team in a previous year, it's your spot to lose vs. everyone starting fresh from scratch. |
Anonymous
| DD played and competed in some scrimmages for VA. You'll find out quite quick that only about 10-20% of the actual top talent in the state goes to ODP. It's fine. I thought it would be a heck of a lot more competitive. We have youth USWNT players at our club that have never done ODP, so obviously the best-of-the-best isn't out there 100%. The PP is dead right, if you played the previous year you're a known quantity to coaches who have no clue who you are since they see you so little. If you make it, you can likely ride it for a few years afterward without much trouble. |
Anonymous
| They'll always pick athleticism and smarts over skill UNLESS you skill is actually really good; odds are if your skill is actually really good and you're at ODP you're athletic enough. |
Anonymous
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It goes : State Pool then selections are made for regional camp. After regional camp, Selections are made for the regional team.
This past year selections were made for the camp which was cancelled because of Covid. Because of that selections were made based coaches recommendations and what regional coaches saw at Friendlies. As PP said, ODP will not get the best of the best out there. However, being a known quantity will not always ensure anything after making the State team. VA/ MD rosters were announced for next weekends Friendlies and new faces replaced several of those who participated in Friendlies last year in DD age group |
Anonymous
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ODP is a numbers game
They need numbers early on to pay their way so this entire system works. In other words they need large numbers of kids to try out for District across the state, most every one of which will make the District pool. From there they break down by district and narrow the pool down to state and this is where the numbers decrease significantly however many players are still questionable in their skill level but ODP needs the volume of players to continue. By the time State plays out it is very clear who the top team players are and who the lower level players are at the State level and although this is not a formal cut or assessment its obvious. These more select players will get the invite to the regional tournament and ultimately to the Regional Camp. The Regional camp is a whole different challenge all together. It is very difficult to be selected to the Regional Team. The jump from State to Regional Team is night and day. |
Anonymous
| Is there a list for boys who made the state pool and regional pool anywhere? Thanks |
Anonymous
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For Virginia you can find the latest from this link
https://www.vysa.com/Default.aspx?tabid=2736246 |