Olympic
Development| The San Andreas Youth Soccer Organization does not operate its own ODP program. SAYSO is not affiliated with the two ODP programs described on this page, but it fully supports and encourages its players to participate in them. | |
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The #1 Reason that Young Players Try Out for
ODP Their parents want them to. Particularly at the youngest ages (U13 and U14), parents are the enabling, encouraging, and motivating influences on players. When players are older, they make up their own minds. |
The #1 Reason Why Your Child Shouldn't Try Out
For ODP The loss of innocence. The loss of a dream. The loss of self-confidence and a feeling of well-being. The loss of purpose and direction. Players with great talent and bright futures arrive at ODP tryouts full of starry-eyed enthusiasm, dedication, and motivation. They (particularly girls) leave ODP tryouts two days later dejected, disappointed, insecure, demotivated, and convinced that they will never amount to anything in soccer. It's a turning point. For all of the players that tryout for U13 ODP, only approximately half of them return for U14 tryouts. And, so on, and so on. |
 What is ODP? |
ODP is the abbreviation for
"Olympic Development Program", a USSF program designed to identify youth
soccer players of the highest caliber. USSF has chartered two organizations,
United States Youth Soccer (USYS) and the Super-Y League (SYL)
to identify the top youth soccer players in the United States for its
national pool. (US Club Soccer does not have its own ODP. Rather, it
designates the SYL program as its ODP path.) Every USYS state association
has an ODP program. In northern California, it is part of the California
Youth Soccer Association (CYSA-N). The CYSA-N ODP program is part of USYS
Region IV, one of 4 USYS ODP regions that compete against one another in
the process of identifying players for the national team pool. Most of the comments on this page pertain specifically to the USYS ODP program. |
| Is this really related to the Olympics? | Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that the term "Olympic Development Program" is owned by the US Olympic Committee. Yes, in the sense that you can end up in the USSF national pool and represent your country in games and tournaments around the world, including in the Olympics. In the U.S., the USSF men's national U23 team has contributed to the Olympic team. Many of the women's Olympic teams are USSF national team players. No, in the sense that the U.S. Olympic Committee doesn't actually run ODP. It has given that responsibility to USSF and SYL. The route into the Olympics for soccer players is not direct, fixed, or cut-and-dried. |
| What is "the ODP team"? | This term has many meanings. There are district ODP teams, state ODP teams, regional ODP teams, and national team pools. "Playing ODP" usually means playing on the district team. If you make it onto the state team, you usually say, "I play on the state (ODP) team". If you make it onto the regional team, you've earned the right to call it anything you want, and by then, you'll know what you're doing. |
| How does ODP work? | The USYS program
is separate from normal league play. You play on your regular club team AND
you play on an ODP team. Someplace along the way (usually at the regional
level), USSF, college, and professional scouts watch your ODP games. Click here to visit
the District 2 CYSA (part of USYS) ODP page. Click
here
to visit the USYS ODP site. The SYL program is part of normal league play. Since the playing level is already high, being on a SYL team is (theoretically) equivalent to playing on a USYS state ODP team. The final rounds (e.g., the national finals) of major SYL competitions are heavily scouted. The SYL ODP process is relatively new. Click here to visit the SYL ODP site. |
| How does ODP affect SAYSO players? | Some U11 and every SAYSO player U12 and older is eligible and encouraged to try out for the USYS ODP. SAYSO supports the USYS ODP process and releases SAYSO players to attend ODP events that conflict with SAYSO games. |
| Do I have to try out for ODP? What if I don't want to? | You don't have to participate in ODP if you don't want to. |
| Do SAYSO players get selected for the ODP team individually or as an entire team? | Individuals get selected for the ODP team. |
| Which CYSA-N district are we in? | Most SAYSO players reside in CYSA-N District 2, which is made up of the San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey counties. |
| Can I tryout for an CYSA-N ODP team in another district (e.g., District 1) which is more convenient to me? | Despite the obvious benefits and advantages to the players, prior to 2003, CYSA-N maintained the sanctity of the districts and did not permit trying out in a different district. However, this is a developing issue. |
| When are the District 2 ODP tryouts? | Two weekends - usually one in May and one in June - on two days each weekend. You are strongly encouraged to attend both days on both tryouts. There is a reduced chance of being selected if you only attend one tryout. |
| Where are the district ODP tryouts held? | In the past, the CYSA-N District 2 tryouts have been held in Morgan Hill. |
| What's the selection procedure? | First you try out for the
district ODP team. There are 3-4 two-hour sessions over two weekends. At the
end of each two-hour session, some players may be cut. Or, the ODP coaches
may not cut anyone until after the final tryout session. There is uniform
approach. The players left after
the final cut constitute the district ODP team. A few extra players may be
selected as alternatives, since a few selectees may decide not to
participate after being invited, move away, or get injured. If you are selected, the district ODP team practices and plays together for several months. Then, the nine district ODP teams complete in September and October. A number of players, about a hundred or so in each age group, are invited to tryout for the state ODP team in March of the following year. The state team practices and plays together a few times. In May, the various state ODP teams compete in regional competitions, and the best players are selected for the regional ODP teams. The regional teams compete against each other, and the best players from the regional ODP teams are selected for the national pool. |
| What's the probability of getting on the regional ODP team? | In past years, substantial percentages of the regional ODP team players (boys and girls) have come from District 2. |
| Why am I trying out for an U13 team when I'm only 11? | First of all, ODP ages go by calendar year (January-December), unlike the state associations that go by the playing season (August-July). Secondly, ODP is looking for players who will be the correct age next year, when the regional and national pools and teams are picked. |
| What's the youngest ODP team? | The youngest ODP team is Under-13. However, players may be 11 when they receive the invitation to tryout. The goal is to have a U13 team ready by the time the players are U13. The entire selection process can take a year for regional and national teams. |
| What's the oldest ODP team? | Each organization running the ODP selection process makes this decision. CYSA-N only selects U13-U16 ODP teams. Other states have older groups. It's a function of interest and resources. |
| I really want to do this, but not this year. Can I wait? | You can begin whenever you want to: U13, U14, U15, U16, etc. However, there are some advantages to starting at the earliest age. |
| What happens if I don't feel ready to try out now. Can I try next year? | Yes. There are ODP teams for
every age group. You just keep trying out year after year. A lot of people
mature into ODP.
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| What happens if I have a bad tryout or don't get selected. Can I try again next year? | Absolutely, yes. And, you should
try again if you believe that your exclusion was a mistake on the part of
the evaluators. Such a belief goes hand-in-hand with self-confidence. In a sense, not getting picked is part of the long-term evaluation process. Most players who do not get picked also do not participate in future ODP tryouts. However, a player who is destined to make it 'big' in the future will tryout again. The number of players who tryout plummets steadily each year. The process is survival-of-the-fittest over a multi-year time frame. The players who are mentally ready for the rigors of high level soccer competition will never stop coming back to ODP tryouts. Obviously, you have to tryout next year if you want to get picked next year. If you don't get picked this year and you don't want to tryout next year, the evaluators probably made the correct decisions. |
| What happens if I don't make it onto ODP? | It's not the end of the world.
Many excellent players don't get in ODP because there simply isn't room for them.
Many good players don't participate because of the cost, travel, and time
involved. However, these good players still play in high school, still
attend high-level, scouted tournaments, still play in college, still get
scholarships, and still get picked for semi-pro and pro teams. ODP is only
one of the ways to get yourself noticed. |
| What happens if I qualify for the ODP team but decide not to accept a position? | It's probably not a good thing. The ODP staff at the district level may remember you next year. |
| What's the payoff? | Most of the benefits are applicable only to the older players. For most players, just trying out is the payoff. It's the pride of being as good as you can be and the fun of associating with the best players in the district. Besides the personal satisfaction of just being part of the process, making the state or regional team can get you a lot of attention. ODP play days and tournaments can attract employers needing youths to teach summer soccer camps, scouts from colleges, and pro- and semi-pro teams. Many of the players in the U.S. national team pool are products of the ODP program. For almost everyone who tries out, though, personal satisfaction has to (must) be the primary goal. |
| What are the downsides to playing on an ODP team after being selected? | Cost, time, travel, frustrating politics, inconvenience, and risk of disappointment. The cost elements are mostly travel, lodging, and some equipment. There is next-to-no funding from the league, district, or association for ODP players, and getting what little funding there is can be difficult. Each player must pay most of his/her own costs and get his/her own sponsors. (SAYSO may be able to help in this regard.) The time and travel commitments are huge. The ODP teams practice and play scrimmages at the same time as the players' club (e.g., SAYSO) team practices and plays games. In CYSA-N District 2, the practices are almost always in the south bay (e.g., Morgan Hill, Santa Cruz, etc.), inconvenient for residents of the central peninsula. There are weekend play days and games during September and October, typically at Cherry Island (Sacramento) or in Morgan Hill. If a player does not drive, a parent must accompany him/her. |
| Can you play ODP and still be on a SAYSO club team? | Yes, and it is normal to do so. ODP is not supposed to interfere with tournament play, but ODP players may miss some league games anyway. ODP schedules its play days around major tournaments (such as State Cup), but regular league games are not considered. When there is a conflict between an ODP and a SAYSO game, SAYSO makes ODP the priority. You won't get any kick-back from SAYSO. |
| How long is an ODP tryout? | It's basically all day, both days of one or two weekends. Some players may be "released" after each session. |
| What do they do in ODP tryouts? | Surprisingly, there is little uniformity in the tryout activities, as each group's evaluators (i.e., coaches) decide on their own how to make the selection. Nonlinear evaluators may do nothing more than watch the players as they scrimmage hour after hour after hour. Linear evaluators may have a rating system that assigns points based on fitness, skill, knowledge, strategy, aggressiveness, and size. There may be lots and lots of sprinting and running, or the evaluators may let the players scrimmage to exhaustion. There may be lots of juggling or none at all. There may be lots of doing the same skill (passing, trapping, heading, etc.) continuously, over and over, while coaches come by and rate your ability, or the evaluators may not evaluate individual skills. Scrimmaging, of course, is always part of the process. Click here to see a typical ODP tryout routine from a linear evaluation. |
| What are they looking for in ODP players? | Many people respond to this
question with a shrug of the shoulders and, "Who knows?" Beyond that, it is
somewhat what you would expect, and everything you hoped it wouldn't be. (1)
Current size - height and bulk. Larger and taller players
are preferred. It's a sad commentary on the selection process that,
regardless of their skill levels and everything else, short and young players are
routinely eliminated. There is no extrapolation that takes into
consideration future size. (2) Aggressiveness and fearlessness on the field.
(3) Athleticism - speed, endurance. (4) 1v1 skills and ability to maintain
possession of the ball under pressure. (5) Technique and other ball-handling
skills - passing, trapping, shooting, heading, ability to turn quickly,
fancy footwork and "moves"; (6) Being a play-maker. Ability to make things happen.
Reading the game - knowing where to be, when to pass, and what to do; (7)
Team tactics - overlaps, combination play, etc. Team tactics are not given
as much weight because the players may not have played much together. Also see, "Playing Up and ODP". |
| What does it cost to try out? | The tryout fee is approximately $25. For this fee, you receive the right to be there, and (if you are not already a member of CYSA-N), membership in CYSA-N and insurance. There may be financial assistance. |
| What should I bring to the tryout? | In addition to the usual (shin guards, lots of your own water, and sun block), a #5 ball be marked with your name, and two shirts: one white and one dark colored (so you can play in a white v. dark scrimmage). |
| What are some strategies to get picked? | Obviously, the important
strategies are to be in excellent shape and to play well.
Look
athletic. Act "studly". Be assertive. If you're a girl, wear your hair in a
top-knot to look taller. Never quit. Never say "I can't do that". Never whine or cry. Don't be sick. Don't get injured. If you fall down, get up and keep playing. Run to everything, no matter how slowly you run. Try for every ball. Head everything in the air. Chase every ball that is going out of bounds. Take every throw-in. Talk, call, and yell a lot in order to show that you are taking charge. Be easily identified. Be "the player with the
purple shirt." A lot of players try out, and sometimes it's the players who get noticed, rather
than the players who have the most skill, who get picked. Some people suggest that you wear flashy clothes so as to get noticed.
Some people suggest wearing a replica jersey of an international team you
admire.
If you're a girl, where a ribbon in your hair like a flag. Don't confuse the
evaluators: Wear the same outfit each time you tryout. Definitely DON'T risk blisters by wearing a new pair of boots to the tryouts. Stay near your friends. When several players from a club try out together, they tend to work together to pass the ball amongst themselves, making the remaining players (who seldom get the ball) look bad. This isn't always an intentional strategy, but it is common. |
| Is the selection process political? | Based on the past, there can be a fair amount of politics involved in the selection process. It helps if you know or have played for one or more of the evaluating coaches in the past. It helps if one of the evaluating coaches is the coach of your high school soccer team. It helps if your mother or father is part of the local soccer scene. It helps if you play for a team in the south bay (where most of the District 2 evaluating coaches have traditionally come from). It definitely helps if you played on an ODP team the previous year and the coaches already thoroughly know your ability. Big players get selected over fast, small players. Tall girls get selected over talented girls. Some people don't get picked despite an obvious preponderance of talent. Some people get picked for no apparent reason. That's just the way it is. |
| What are the people in ODP like? | You're on your own to create and maintain a comfortable environment. There are always nice people - coaches, parents, and players - in every activity. Hopefully, you will be surrounded by them. However, ODP, and particularly ODP at the lowest (i.e., district) levels often brings out the worst in some people. The coaches can be aloof and puffed-up with their own importance. The players can be cliquey, rude, and mean to each other. For parents, ODP might be the first time that they are 100% excluded from their child's soccer experience. All they can do is sit and fidget. Many parents lose sight of the [lack of] importance of ODP, and they (and, their children) act inappropriately - doing and saying whatever is necessary to help their child progress. It's a dog-eat-dog environment where virtually all players get eliminated at some point in the process (district, state, region, national pool, etc.), no matter how good they are. Most parents and players are ill-equipped to deal emotionally with the ups and downs, the inconsistencies, and the perceived unfairness and favoritism. Rather than huddling together and chattering nervously at ODP tryouts and other events, the well-adjusted families may maintain their stability by just keeping to themselves. The warm fuzzies that we have seen amongst the players in the old (i.e., in Mia Hamm's) US Women's National Team will have to wait until another environment. |
| What about poaching? [Read what District 2 has to say about poaching, here.] |
Having an accumulation of same-aged, top-rated players together in one place is similar to a club tryout, and too many ODP hopefuls have been poached (i.e. encouraged to leave and/or lured away from their "home" club teams with promised opportunities to join "killer teams" in other clubs coached by the ODP and other coaches.) Players and their parents are very vulnerable in a selection process, and they really don't know what they have to do to be selected. Wanting the outcome so desperately, they often believe everything that they are told - even if it defies logic or requires hardships on their parts- and, they may forget who their real friends are. Although ODP coaches are not allowed to be currently coaching club teams in the age group they are evaluating, the definition of "poaching" is so narrow and the enforcement abilities so limited that many club coaches don't publicize or encourage ODP participation, and worse, discourage, their players from participating, for fear that their players will be lured away. That limiting behavior is just as inappropriate as the poaching they are trying to avoid, because the players don't belong to the home club coaches (or, to anyone else, for that matter.) Players should be allowed to seek out what is best for themselves, even when their decisions are not for the best. Being forewarned and knowledgeable is the only appropriate defense. Coaches and program administrators need to be aware of their motivations and to be honest with themselves. Parents and players need to be aware of the potential for inappropriate actions by talent-greedy club coaches. Parents who "put on their thinking caps" and remain logical will be able to see through the poachers. |
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