ODP Soccer

If you are a US youth soccer player, then chances are you've heard of ODP Soccer. So what is ODP Soccer? Over the past decade it has become a scouting system to find the best soccer players in America who will hopefully go on to represent the U.S. Natioanl team at the youth or senior level. If a player is selected for the ODP team, they then go on to compete agaainst other ODP teams across the US and then have a chance to make the Regional team, and ultimately the U.S. National team. This blog was created to keep its readers up to date on all things related to the ODP system so you can have the information you need in one place.

The ODP system:

Each state has try-outs for their ODP team every summer/fall when coaches will select their players who will make up the states ODP team. The four main areas that are evaluated include:

1. Technique 2. Tacticts 3. Fitness and Athletic Ability 4. Attitude

The team then plays together and enters into the US Youth Soccer ODP Championship, where all the states across the country play against each other. This is also a big opportunity to get scouted as many college coaches attend to recruit prospective players for university/college. From this event, players are also selected on to a regional team. There are four regional teams and it is broken down as following:

Region 1: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshite, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

Region 2: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Region 3: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Region 4: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

It is through these regional camps that players are identified to potentially play for a US youth national team. Players usually have to go through the process of playing first for a club team, then ODP team, a Regional team and finally the US youth national team.

Stay tuned for more information on players who have played ODP, other related youth soccer stories and even some of the latest stuff coming up before the 2010 World Cup.