Hello,

I have a 97 girl player who is interested in the ODP program. As the coach, are there any:

• Suggestions
  
• Lesson's learned
  
• Recommendations
  

Before I enter into this I figured I would see if anyone has suggestions.

Thanks in advance,

Brad Kennedy

Know how to juggle..with just the feet..maybe 50 times or more. They need to be confident. Pick a position they can excel in. Size and speed are key at forward, good at mid, less critical at defender. Pick a bright color for tryouts

My dd tried out last season (made the pool). Noone had her juggle. BUT ODP is VERY political. ...be prepared to be baffled at some of the decisions they make.

Agreed! Very political... Nevertheless, ODP thus far has been a great learning experience for my 97 dd.

We had 5 yrs of experience with it with our BB.

First, realize that the ODP coaches are looking at individual talent.

With this in mind, your DD will need to show more individual skills during try-outs as well as good team play. Many players make the mistake of being too team oriented during try-outs and don't get noticed. (try-outs on the boys side only happenned the first year of eligibility and then it was invitation only. Your coach can contact the ODP staff to have them come watch your players in action)

Once working out with the ODP staff, don't limit yourself to one position. Let them know you are willing to play any position necessary. (Several good forwards/mid's made the Regional/National Team out our group as defenders).

Don't give up or get discouraged if you don't make it on the first try. A National player in residence out our group did not even make the team the first year.

Lastly, having ODP participation on your soccer resume is one of the most important factors when it comes to college scholarships. College scouts will always look at the players with ODP experience first during showcase tournaments.

Hope this helps

Wow, no juggling! My kid has been in ODP for 3 years and that was the first thing the did to separate the kids. Not only juggling but different drills juggling across the field. However, he's a boy and it may be different for girls. I would say that he has enjoyed the experience as a whole. Very political! Not a lot of communication to parents after making the team. Only information or feedback to parents was when the next practice will be held.

They will separate the kids by positions.
1. Make sure she can use both feet in drills.
2. Make sure she can use fakes for 1 v 1 drills
3. Understand 4 v 4 drills. A lot of small games to see the decisions made by the kids.

Also, when the boys practices started at 11:00a.m. most kids were there by 10:30am and warming up. Normally they were doing drills if you walked up at 11:00.

Good luck.

Open tryouts for 97s were last March. You would need to contact the ODP folks to come out and watch her.

The 97s got ripped; they had only 3 months post-96 tryouts for their open turn. I think several parents were expecting this fall's tryouts to be for 97s, not 98s.

Lucky for me, this has no impact on dd.

Good luck.

I believe the ODP tryouts are by actual birth year, not soccer year.

the driver wrote:I believe the ODP tryouts are by actual birth year, not soccer year.

You are correct it is by birth year.

But you can try-out early. I know many '98's that tried out and made the '97 pool.