Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 16:57     Subject: ODP in VA cost
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was shocked at the lack of girls who turned out for the Richmond (central) district tryouts. I've heard ODP really trumpeted lately and there were barely any girls out there! I gues the DA clubs can't tryout? I mean, the Richmond Strikes, Kickers, and FC Richmond are there.

Are the girls on DA above the ODP now-a-days? I know in NOVA the DA's are the ultimate playing in the best brackets like the Jeff Cup or WAGS weekend.

This thread has given me a ton to think of. My daughter is a pretty high level keeper and I need her to be in better daily/weekly competition. I was praying ODP was it. The cost is steep for extra training on Friday's. Ultimately she has to give it a go... right? Anyway, good thread and thanks everyone for posting their deep insight.


ODP has always had much more participation in the North District, tryouts are two days and boys/girls train at separate locations. All the other districts only have a single day of tryouts and combined training.

You should know that you are not paying for the training, your paying for her to have a chance to make the state pool and then regional pool after that. At each level, she will be playing with better kids but if you look at it as just training then it's not worth it. If she can make state or regional pool she will have a much better shot at making a DA or ECNL roster in the future.


As far as the boys DA goes, that's definitely not true. The coaches see ODP as so far below the DA level that success there is all but meaningless. The only thing that matters is how you play. If you're coming from outside the DA, that means making enough of an impact at a talent ID session to get invited to practice with the team, and then making enough of an impact at those practices to displace an existing player.

As has already been stated, from a pure training perspective ODP is overpriced for what you get (and the coaches aren't always that good), but that doesn't mean ODP wouldn't be worth it for a player wanting to make the jump to DA in the future. The value for that player would be in getting what is basically tryout experience. Right or wrong, it is not enough to be good. Players need to learn how to get noticed. Going through the ODP selection process can be a good learning experience for that.


ECNL teams view ODP "achievements" the same way as DA does.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 14:17     Subject: Re:ODP in VA cost
Anonymous wrote:Speaking of costs...North District Boys have training from 7:30-9:00 at Evergreen. Meaning, for us, getting home at 10:00 on Sunday night. This is such an unnecessary pain in the a$$ that we’ll skip ODP this year.


Ditto. Disappointing that all training appears to be on Sunday evenings. Convenient for coaches but not great for players.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 14:00     Subject: Re:ODP in VA cost
Speaking of costs...North District Boys have training from 7:30-9:00 at Evergreen. Meaning, for us, getting home at 10:00 on Sunday night. This is such an unnecessary pain in the a$$ that we’ll skip ODP this year.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 13:56     Subject: ODP in VA cost
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was shocked at the lack of girls who turned out for the Richmond (central) district tryouts. I've heard ODP really trumpeted lately and there were barely any girls out there! I gues the DA clubs can't tryout? I mean, the Richmond Strikes, Kickers, and FC Richmond are there.

Are the girls on DA above the ODP now-a-days? I know in NOVA the DA's are the ultimate playing in the best brackets like the Jeff Cup or WAGS weekend.

This thread has given me a ton to think of. My daughter is a pretty high level keeper and I need her to be in better daily/weekly competition. I was praying ODP was it. The cost is steep for extra training on Friday's. Ultimately she has to give it a go... right? Anyway, good thread and thanks everyone for posting their deep insight.


ODP has always had much more participation in the North District, tryouts are two days and boys/girls train at separate locations. All the other districts only have a single day of tryouts and combined training.

You should know that you are not paying for the training, your paying for her to have a chance to make the state pool and then regional pool after that. At each level, she will be playing with better kids but if you look at it as just training then it's not worth it. If she can make state or regional pool she will have a much better shot at making a DA or ECNL roster in the future.


As far as the boys DA goes, that's definitely not true. The coaches see ODP as so far below the DA level that success there is all but meaningless. The only thing that matters is how you play. If you're coming from outside the DA, that means making enough of an impact at a talent ID session to get invited to practice with the team, and then making enough of an impact at those practices to displace an existing player.

As has already been stated, from a pure training perspective ODP is overpriced for what you get (and the coaches aren't always that good), but that doesn't mean ODP wouldn't be worth it for a player wanting to make the jump to DA in the future. The value for that player would be in getting what is basically tryout experience. Right or wrong, it is not enough to be good. Players need to learn how to get noticed. Going through the ODP selection process can be a good learning experience for that.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 12:40     Subject: ODP in VA cost
Anonymous wrote:This is nonsense. If you want your DC to play DA/ECNL, call the coach and ask whether she/he can attend a few practices.
Why would you spend hundreds just for a "better shot at making a DA or ECNL roster in the future"?


The tryout process is flawed and there are very few spots open to outsiders at tryouts every year.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 12:27     Subject: ODP in VA cost
This is nonsense. If you want your DC to play DA/ECNL, call the coach and ask whether she/he can attend a few practices.
Why would you spend hundreds just for a "better shot at making a DA or ECNL roster in the future"?
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 12:18     Subject: ODP in VA cost
Anonymous wrote:I was shocked at the lack of girls who turned out for the Richmond (central) district tryouts. I've heard ODP really trumpeted lately and there were barely any girls out there! I gues the DA clubs can't tryout? I mean, the Richmond Strikes, Kickers, and FC Richmond are there.

Are the girls on DA above the ODP now-a-days? I know in NOVA the DA's are the ultimate playing in the best brackets like the Jeff Cup or WAGS weekend.

This thread has given me a ton to think of. My daughter is a pretty high level keeper and I need her to be in better daily/weekly competition. I was praying ODP was it. The cost is steep for extra training on Friday's. Ultimately she has to give it a go... right? Anyway, good thread and thanks everyone for posting their deep insight.


ODP has always had much more participation in the North District, tryouts are two days and boys/girls train at separate locations. All the other districts only have a single day of tryouts and combined training.

You should know that you are not paying for the training, your paying for her to have a chance to make the state pool and then regional pool after that. At each level, she will be playing with better kids but if you look at it as just training then it's not worth it. If she can make state or regional pool she will have a much better shot at making a DA or ECNL roster in the future.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 09:06     Subject: ODP in VA cost
Anonymous wrote:I was shocked at the lack of girls who turned out for the Richmond (central) district tryouts. I've heard ODP really trumpeted lately and there were barely any girls out there! I gues the DA clubs can't tryout? I mean, the Richmond Strikes, Kickers, and FC Richmond are there.

Are the girls on DA above the ODP now-a-days? I know in NOVA the DA's are the ultimate playing in the best brackets like the Jeff Cup or WAGS weekend.

This thread has given me a ton to think of. My daughter is a pretty high level keeper and I need her to be in better daily/weekly competition. I was praying ODP was it. The cost is steep for extra training on Friday's. Ultimately she has to give it a go... right? Anyway, good thread and thanks everyone for posting their deep insight.


The DA/ECNL players are now top of the pyramid. Odp is a good supplement for ccl and npl kids.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 07:46     Subject: ODP in VA cost
ODP still a thing? Complete waste of money and time.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 01:17     Subject: ODP in VA cost
A lot of players do not attend the tryout weekend but then show up at the first practice, which is effectively their tryout. Many people still out of town.
Anonymous
Post 08/13/2019 00:58     Subject: ODP in VA cost
Anonymous wrote:I was shocked at the lack of girls who turned out for the Richmond (central) district tryouts. I've heard ODP really trumpeted lately and there were barely any girls out there! I gues the DA clubs can't tryout? I mean, the Richmond Strikes, Kickers, and FC Richmond are there.

Are the girls on DA above the ODP now-a-days? I know in NOVA the DA's are the ultimate playing in the best brackets like the Jeff Cup or WAGS weekend.

This thread has given me a ton to think of. My daughter is a pretty high level keeper and I need her to be in better daily/weekly competition. I was praying ODP was it. The cost is steep for extra training on Friday's. Ultimately she has to give it a go... right? Anyway, good thread and thanks everyone for posting their deep insight.


Full time DA players are not allowed to try out for ODP or to participate. As for the usual garbage in garbage out of which league is better, I think the right answer is always first and foremost what's best for your child, and having watched both boys and girls in both leagues, I have seen some amazing ECNL teams (boys and girls) as well as some clunkers. I have also seen some amazing DA teams (boys and girls) as well as some clunkers. Stereotyping is no more useful in soccer than anywhere else.
Anonymous
Post 08/12/2019 22:37     Subject: ODP in VA cost
I was shocked at the lack of girls who turned out for the Richmond (central) district tryouts. I've heard ODP really trumpeted lately and there were barely any girls out there! I gues the DA clubs can't tryout? I mean, the Richmond Strikes, Kickers, and FC Richmond are there.

Are the girls on DA above the ODP now-a-days? I know in NOVA the DA's are the ultimate playing in the best brackets like the Jeff Cup or WAGS weekend.

This thread has given me a ton to think of. My daughter is a pretty high level keeper and I need her to be in better daily/weekly competition. I was praying ODP was it. The cost is steep for extra training on Friday's. Ultimately she has to give it a go... right? Anyway, good thread and thanks everyone for posting their deep insight.
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2019 15:06     Subject: Re:ODP in VA cost
So there you have it—ODP costs.

Keep in mind there are other odds and ends: cost of driving to training, time commitments, cost of travel to the out-of-state events for parents (separate from player costs, as you cannot travel and room together).

Hope this helps in your decisions.
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2019 13:58     Subject: ODP in VA cost
Boys DA>ECNL
Girls ECNL>DA
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2019 13:56     Subject: ODP in VA cost
I agree. ECNL is nothing special on the boys side. On the girls side, it's is a different story.