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Post by guest on Sept 12, 2016 11:50:51 GMT -5
Well, the Girls 00, 01 and 02 State and 03, 04, and 05 Preliminary tryouts were this weekend. Boys State is much later for some reason.
How did it go for everyone?
My $.02 worth: the small sided games did not last as long as I though they would, only 45 minutes or so. Then only one long 11v11 game, with subs coming on and off. Daughter said any nervousness wore off by the time the 11v11 started up. Having a few players from her team there was helpful. They said it felt more like a team scrimmage, so the stress level dropped somewhat.
Hope to hear soon, good luck to all.
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Post by jash on Sept 12, 2016 12:26:53 GMT -5
My two cents... until the politics are removed from ODP it is and will remain a joke. Of course, *most* of the players chosen deserve it. But every year there are several who don't that are selected, and many who do are overlooked because they are displaced by a determined effort by a DOC with inside connections who lobbies until their player is included. I know for a fact that this happens. I personally know players who were selected that way.
There are many ways this could be solved, but an easy one would be for the coaches involved with the selections to simply refuse to accept input from outside coaches -- ever. A good player who had an off day might be overlooked, but the system becomes more fair overall.
Another way would be for states to pair up each year (different pairings each year) and send delegates across state lines to conduct tryouts. Costs would go up marginally (travel expenses only) but it would be worth it to ensure impartiality.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Sept 12, 2016 13:09:30 GMT -5
I guess when they get to the 3rd year of the ODP class they become a little bit more selective of the player pool, and historically have made the teams smaller --- but my 2 cents for the first 2 years is if your not sure and a kid is on the fence, give him/her a chance. not like it really matters, all the kids really do is train once or twice a month.
However with DAs impact on the 02,03,04 classes should be interesting to see what the state pools look like. ~ a little less than half of last years 2003 team is playing DA.
I agree and disagree - coaches input can/should be a part of the process. the key piece is part of the process and not the only selection criteria. If a coach has the kid as his number 1 player and the number 16 player gets picked over his number 1, hence the frustration from a clubs perspective. (I'm not saying that the 16th player doesn't deserve to make the team) At the end of the day -- very few states take ODP seriously anymore, historically Georgia has done a very good job getting the younger player pool to come out.
I said this on another thread, Georgia Soccer dropped the ball and should have done something "special" with the current u11/2006s this year. They could have figured out their place to help with the development process of these kids. Have a once month serious training session with 60-75 2006s. Kids get to know each other. Thats the cool thing about ODP -- its getting to know and become friends with all these kids at all the different clubs. You have kids from cumming hanging with kids from peachtree city. Kids from Dalton hanging with kids from conyers. Diverse groups of kids from different soccer programs. Its a unique experience that is truly more than just about soccer. In addition, parents get to know one another as well.
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Post by goteam on Sept 12, 2016 13:39:28 GMT -5
Last Wed. during tryouts, based on my observation- they already knew who they were going to pick from the start. They selected 5 boys out of 24 or so. I thought it would be more knowing that 1/2 the team last year are playing DA.
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Post by footy on Sept 12, 2016 15:17:03 GMT -5
Last Wed. during tryouts, based on my observation- they already knew who they were going to pick from the start. They selected 5 boys out of 24 or so. I thought it would be more knowing that 1/2 the team last year are playing DA. That's definitely disappointing for the other kids who didn't get picked but were the 5 kids worthy and 19 not? Did the coaches already know about them from last year's ODP or summer pre-ODP? It can be hard to stand out in a single tryout like that but the coaches I know say they can see what they're looking for pretty quickly.
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Post by spectator on Sept 12, 2016 22:20:20 GMT -5
My two cents
ODP has its politics - everything does. But for the most part it's a good program that allows and affords a large group of players the opportunity to train differently and with other coaches than they are used to; meet players from other teams and hopefully have some fun and make friends in the process. My daughter has enjoyed ODP - does she think it's the most fun thing ever - no. It's hard - sometimes the coaches - especially the region coaches are brutally honest. They're not there to make the player happy or give a rip about the parent's opinion - they're there to make the player better. Once she got to know the other girls and experience region camp and ODP events. she sees it for what it is - an opportunity to train more and with other coaches and make some friends along the way.
The numbers do get smaller as they age out and as coaches cycle through. She's on an new set of coaches this year and they may have seen things differently than what we see. For my daughter's age group. last year was about even between ECNL - RPL and Athena A players as far as numbers on the roster go. This year is about the same - the ECNL girls have to do a late tryout due to games this past weekend but I heard most were coming back. We have a great group of kids and they actually seem to enjoy it and like each other.
I've seen players who are studs on their club teams try out year after year and not make it. They can claim politics or whatever reason but ODP is intense and tactical. It's about decisions the player makes in small spaces and how that impacts the game as a whole. So the kid who has great footwork and decision making skills may beat out the super fast stud who is the top scorer on his or her club team. But fast and furious on the big field doesn't equate to the best overall tactical player. Lots of big club high level teams still play it deep out of the back to a super fast forward and go for that 50-50 shot they beat the goalie and score. But that's not the ODP way to play. Nine time out of ten when I hear how unfair a tryout was or how a player that 'deserved' to make it didn't, it's that kid -the big fast kid who runs a lot but doesn't have the tactical decision making skills to be a true impact player on the field. It's a game of 10 field players not just one stud running down the field.
Now that said - is ODP the path to the Olympics or National team - no. Some get caught up in the name - specifically the 'O' part - but ODP IS a 'development' program focusing on skills and tactical play. I am glad my daughter chose to try out and that she's had the opportunity to participate. It's made her a better player and yes, she's made friends from all over the state because of it. It was nice watching the 'reunions' of these players last night at tryouts.
To those of you with younger players trying out or starting the process - enjoy it. If they don't make it this go round - try again. The program is worth it. It is not a huge time or financial commitment and at the very least, does give additional training for your player as they grow.
Good luck to all continuing with the tryout process!
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Post by SoccerMom on Sept 13, 2016 7:22:12 GMT -5
My two cents ODP has its politics - everything does. But for the most part it's a good program that allows and affords a large group of players the opportunity to train differently and with other coaches than they are used to; meet players from other teams and hopefully have some fun and make friends in the process. My daughter has enjoyed ODP - does she think it's the most fun thing ever - no. It's hard - sometimes the coaches - especially the region coaches are brutally honest. They're not there to make the player happy or give a rip about the parent's opinion - they're there to make the player better. Once she got to know the other girls and experience region camp and ODP events. she sees it for what it is - an opportunity to train more and with other coaches and make some friends along the way. The numbers do get smaller as they age out and as coaches cycle through. She's on an new set of coaches this year and they may have seen things differently than what we see. For my daughter's age group. last year was about even between ECNL - RPL and Athena A players as far as numbers on the roster go. This year is about the same - the ECNL girls have to do a late tryout due to games this past weekend but I heard most were coming back. We have a great group of kids and they actually seem to enjoy it and like each other. I've seen players who are studs on their club teams try out year after year and not make it. They can claim politics or whatever reason but ODP is intense and tactical. It's about decisions the player makes in small spaces and how that impacts the game as a whole. So the kid who has great footwork and decision making skills may beat out the super fast stud who is the top scorer on his or her club team. But fast and furious on the big field doesn't equate to the best overall tactical player. Lots of big club high level teams still play it deep out of the back to a super fast forward and go for that 50-50 shot they beat the goalie and score. But that's not the ODP way to play. Nine time out of ten when I hear how unfair a tryout was or how a player that 'deserved' to make it didn't, it's that kid -the big fast kid who runs a lot but doesn't have the tactical decision making skills to be a true impact player on the field. It's a game of 10 field players not just one stud running down the field. Now that said - is ODP the path to the Olympics or National team - no. Some get caught up in the name - specifically the 'O' part - but ODP IS a 'development' program focusing on skills and tactical play. I am glad my daughter chose to try out and that she's had the opportunity to participate. It's made her a better player and yes, she's made friends from all over the state because of it. It was nice watching the 'reunions' of these players last night at tryouts. To those of you with younger players trying out or starting the process - enjoy it. If they don't make it this go round - try again. The program is worth it. It is not a huge time or financial commitment and at the very least, does give additional training for your player as they grow. Good luck to all continuing with the tryout process! I agree with everything you said except for the path to the National Team. Kids that make the region team do get that national coaches exposure in interregionals and the national training camp. I know of kids that were seen there and have been invited to YNT Camps
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Post by spectator on Sept 13, 2016 8:08:59 GMT -5
I agree with everything you said except for the path to the National Team. Kids that make the region team do get that national coaches exposure in interregionals and the national training camp. I know of kids that were seen there and have been invited to YNT Camps Right- to clarify - being in a state ODP pool isn't the guaranteed path to a national team invitation but yes, the region pool and team players do get looks. What will be interesting in coming years is to see how many national team players participated in ODP especially as ECNL continues to be such a factor in players making national teams. ODP is still a USYS program and ECNL is separate - their schedule conflicted with tryouts for the 02-00 group on Sunday so none of those girls were there. Most of the ECNL players in my daughter's age group have indicated they want to return but one mom told me her ECNL coach was discouraging her daughter from coming back. If the two soccer entities get in a pissing match about participation it could completely kill ODP which would be a shame. Not every player has access to an ECNL club or a club with an RPL team so ODP is a chance for them to get that level of training and competition. All that said, I'm glad my daughter participates - she's gotten a lot of good training and feedback from the variety of coaches she's had both in the state pool and at region camp.
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Post by th1976 on Sept 13, 2016 17:47:43 GMT -5
I agree that ODP is supposed to be a development program. The word 'Olympic' harkens back to the days when it was the only game around. Not sure that the state level coaching is consistently good and can't escape the feeling that, all protests to the contrary, the state coach has more influence than he should even at the regional camp. At Boca the coaches the girls had were very fair. That said I think ECNL tournaments, NTC and ID2 are a bigger source for players chosen for the youth pools and more competitive. Not to say playing on a regional team for ODP doesn't get a kid noticed, it does, but I read or heard that only 13 or 14 of the original 48 on this years U14 GNT were even in ODP. I think a lot of it has to do with comfort level and playing with kids they know in ECNL etc. They show better.
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Post by spectator on Sept 13, 2016 21:25:30 GMT -5
Another way would be for states to pair up each year (different pairings each year) and send delegates across state lines to conduct tryouts. Costs would go up marginally (travel expenses only) but it would be worth it to ensure impartiality. that makes a ton of sense - have region coaches run each state's tryouts - that's true scouting. Let the state coaches work on the development and see what shakes out at Region camp pool selection by doing it this way.
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Post by spectator on Sept 13, 2016 21:30:55 GMT -5
I agree that ODP is supposed to be a development program. The word 'Olympic' harkens back to the days when it was the only game around. Not sure that the state level coaching is consistently good and can't escape the feeling that, all protests to the contrary, the state coach has more influence than he should even at the regional camp. At Boca the coaches the girls had were very fair. That said I think ECNL tournaments, NTC and ID2 are a bigger source for players chosen for the youth pools and more competitive. Not to say playing on a regional team for ODP doesn't get a kid noticed, it does, but I read or heard that only 13 or 14 of the original 48 on this years U14 GNT were even in ODP. I think a lot of it has to do with comfort level and playing with kids they know in ECNL etc. They show better. I"m seeing a lot of conflicts with ECNL and ODP already. ECNL has games every single weekend that ODP has practice so it's practically impossible for a girl to play ECNL and be a part of ODP. Same with RPL schedules this year - lots of out of town weekends conflicting with the limited ODP training. The big test will be if ECNL schedules a big event at the same time as sub regionals. That will essentially kill ODP completely. This is the pissing match I was worried about between the two leagues - I hope it doesn't happen.
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Post by guest on Sept 14, 2016 7:49:31 GMT -5
Didn't the WNT schedule a practice recently that conflicted with ECNL Finals or some such? That really stinks but neither entity was killed in the process. If you take out all ECNL players from ODP, then it would conceivably make ODP a weaker pool, but it wouldn't necessarily kill it off. I think ODP serves a purpose for those players that don't have access to ECNL.
For my daughter it was a confidence booster. She does best when she has a goal to work towards. Working your way up the different teams to the top team, starting, playing time, etc. The next goal was making ODP. She already said her next goal is making the regional pool.
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Post by silverback on Sept 14, 2016 8:09:05 GMT -5
My kids played ODP throughout the years and I am a big supporter of ODP. It offered a great opportunity to play/practice with some great players throughout the sate (and coaches outside their clubs), make friendships, travel afar (if selected), etc.
With that said, times have changed and ODP needs to take a step back to re-examine it's mission. Aside from the name being outdated, what's the end game for ODP? While I agree with soccermom that there is still an opportunity for higher level recognition like the national team, the opportunity is remote and probably only applies to one or two players. DA (and ECNL) has changed the game and I suspect DA for girls will have same impact it has on the boys side. ODP needs to look at the masses and find it's niche again.
IMO, the focus should always be development but the end game should be college exposure, which would mean some obvious changes (extending years). DA and ECNL have done a great job to expose players to college coaches, so it's becoming harder for those who do not play in these leagues to stand out. While RPL/SPL/NPL offer higher level competition, it's too hard for college coaches to recruit here with sparse budgets and time.
The ODP friendlies could be college showcases and region camp should be lined with college coaches. The kids could get exposure at younger ages and be tracked through their young careers. It might also help the non-DA or ECNL clubs to retain their players. So again, IMO, the end game should be college, not national teams, olympic teams, etc. and ODP would need to show a roadmap to college which should boost participation and retain players in the program.
Lastly, big shout out to JD for his efforts and commitment with ODP. He has done a great job with the program over the years, extending philosophies and playing styles beyond Georgia, and his tireless work behind the scenes with the players/coaches should be commended and hopefully appreciated by all who have played ODP.
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Post by soccergator on Sept 14, 2016 8:44:12 GMT -5
Yea, we have been saying this for years -- ODP needs to evolve or it will be in the rear view mirror. Well for the boys the time has come.
For the first year for the 2003 class (ie u11 and u12 years) - the vast majority of top players were on the odp team. The 2nd year, a handful of kids dropped out but surprisingly the majority of players stuck with it. The kids got together once a month and for the most part scrimmaged. Very little defense was played, and it was a track meet. A few times this past season though the Head coach slowed the game down a bit and focused more on possession vs attacking with reckless abandon. Forget about the goals, move the ball around etc.
Driving to Conyers on Friday nights absolutely sucked that's for sure. Kids had fun though, to them it was something special. The 2003 class had half their kids make DA, so should be interesting what that roster looks like. Still many quality players, but will those players come out and play knowing the vast majority of top players are not allowed to play.
The 2004 class is obviously decimated as well with 7 DA clubs and 154 kids not available.
This would have been a great year to get the 2006s in there for a year and really work with them. Take the top 60 or so 2006s, hell have 2 separate ODP teams, one in the northside and one on the southside. Train once a month and really get the boys ready with additional training to prepare them for DA for next season and that grind. Maybe even focus on speed and agility training, beginning to dabble in recovery and nutrition and what they should be eating prior to games and training. How they should refuel. Have kids explore new positions etc, move center mids to left backs, move right backs to strikers. Let the kids explore and have freedom to play without the fear of "having " a bad week. The younger agegroups are the most important age groups when it comes to development, teach good habits at u9 etc and break the bad ones. You could rotate coaches, so every month a different club is in charge etc. There is no big tourney in North Carolina, it would all be about training and exposure to different coaches. Make it fun, fast and technical. Give the kids a couple of cool t shirts, charge a little money and folks would love it.
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Post by soccernotfootball on Sept 14, 2016 9:38:24 GMT -5
Yea, we have been saying this for years -- ODP needs to evolve or it will be in the rear view mirror. Well for the boys the time has come. For the first year for the 2003 class (ie u11 and u12 years) - the vast majority of top players were on the odp team. The 2nd year, a handful of kids dropped out but surprisingly the majority of players stuck with it. The kids got together once a month and for the most part scrimmaged. Very little defense was played, and it was a track meet. A few times this past season though the Head coach slowed the game down a bit and focused more on possession vs attacking with reckless abandon. Forget about the goals, move the ball around etc. Driving to Conyers on Friday nights absolutely sucked that's for sure. Kids had fun though, to them it was something special. The 2003 class had half their kids make DA, so should be interesting what that roster looks like. Still many quality players, but will those players come out and play knowing the vast majority of top players are not allowed to play. The 2004 class is obviously decimated as well with 7 DA clubs and 154 kids not available. This would have been a great year to get the 2006s in there for a year and really work with them. Take the top 60 or so 2006s, hell have 2 separate ODP teams, one in the northside and one on the southside. Train once a month and really get the boys ready with additional training to prepare them for DA for next season and that grind. Maybe even focus on speed and agility training, beginning to dabble in recovery and nutrition and what they should be eating prior to games and training. How they should refuel. Have kids explore new positions etc, move center mids to left backs, move right backs to strikers. Let the kids explore and have freedom to play without the fear of "having " a bad week. The younger agegroups are the most important age groups when it comes to development, teach good habits at u9 etc and break the bad ones. You could rotate coaches, so every month a different club is in charge etc. There is no big tourney in North Carolina, it would all be about training and exposure to different coaches. Make it fun, fast and technical. Give the kids a couple of cool t shirts, charge a little money and folks would love it. That all sound like a great idea for the 06s. The only downside is that it involves too much common sense. Read more: gasoccerforum.com/post/13922/quote/1943#ixzz4KF123WkL
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Post by jash on Sept 14, 2016 12:42:01 GMT -5
Perhaps it isn't fair for me to call ODP a joke, because obviously it does provide good training and opportunities.
My point is, amongst all the soccer parents I know in person (including those with kids who have made it) they devalue it dramatically because of the known flaws in the selection process.
It's quite possible that the current selection process (which heavily involves politics in some cases) would yield almost identical results to a 'fair and impartial' process that I would advocate. The problem is the perception that politics influences the program (and it does) weakens people's confidence in the program as a whole.
This opinion is probably unfair to some degree, but it does have merit. If the first level of selection is "for sale" (the currency being political capital) then how can anybody trust the other levels of selection (even if they probably are much more pure)?
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Post by spectator on Sept 14, 2016 23:53:39 GMT -5
Perhaps it isn't fair for me to call ODP a joke, because obviously it does provide good training and opportunities. My point is, amongst all the soccer parents I know in person (including those with kids who have made it) they devalue it dramatically because of the known flaws in the selection process. It's quite possible that the current selection process (which heavily involves politics in some cases) would yield almost identical results to a 'fair and impartial' process that I would advocate. The problem is the perception that politics influences the program (and it does) weakens people's confidence in the program as a whole. This opinion is probably unfair to some degree, but it does have merit. If the first level of selection is "for sale" (the currency being political capital) then how can anybody trust the other levels of selection (even if they probably are much more pure)? OK - I'll bite here. How is ODP selection process any different or less political than any other tryout for a higher level team or organization? I've seen the same politics play out in club and even high school soccer roster selection. Why does ODP have a worse perception than any other tryout?
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Post by jash on Sept 15, 2016 0:06:06 GMT -5
OK - I'll bite here. How is ODP selection process any different or less political than any other tryout for a higher level team or organization? I've seen the same politics play out in club and even high school soccer roster selection. Why does ODP have a worse perception than any other tryout? At least 2 years ago the consensus I heard was that club DOCs felt free to contact ODP staff to recommend a 'second look' at players who they felt were good but simply had a bad day at tryouts. Again, common consensus said that this generally led to almost ALL DOCs contacting at least once per tryout cycle to pump a player. And the reasons for elevating that player were not always simply for soccer skill. It's not what happens AT the tryouts -- it's what happens before and after: the lobbying and jockeying where people's motivations were not necessarily aligned with finding the best players to participate in ODP. Like I said, it's likely the group makeup would be very similar to what it would be without the lobbying. But the easy acceptance of lobbying introduces a perception of 'good old boy' networking that can look really bad from the outside.
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Post by fanatic21 on Sept 15, 2016 10:32:56 GMT -5
I have mixed feelings about the 'second look.' In only 3 hours, how can you be certain that you picked the very best players? Especially with so many kids.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Sept 15, 2016 10:57:47 GMT -5
We had kids get 2nd, 3rd and were told to come back out a 4th time. At the end of the day, sometimes I just don't get what the harm is in taking an extra player or 2. They typically need the bodies at training sessions.
Fortunately the younger teams don't just take 20 kids, because imagine if they did, wow that would be crazy ugly.
We live in different times, in the 80s and 90s state cup and ODP were the biggest things going, now both have been completely marginalized in the modern day youth soccer landscape particularly for girls. The boys side state cup still seems to be chugging along good though, with still having many top level competitive teams on the national level, the girls side with missing the ecnl teams is just different. Thats why I really like that u13 year for the girls, all the ecnl clubs compete and its the most competitive year from top to bottom. The athena table is typically top notch and state cup allows for some great competition with all the top players and teams there.
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Post by guest on Sept 16, 2016 7:03:29 GMT -5
I have mixed feelings about the 'second look.' In only 3 hours, how can you be certain that you picked the very best players? Especially with so many kids. Look at it this way. Our age group had about 80 kids there. There were about 8 coaches there. During the 4v4 section, 3-4 coaches rotated in and out watching our group play. Then they sorted them into 5 groups for the 11v11 game (only one field). The top and bottom group's fates were pretty much decided. So it was just judging the middle 3 groups of 15 kids each. That's much more manageable.
Of course, were there phone calls made before or after, probably. I don't know about any of that, just reporting what I saw.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Sept 16, 2016 11:05:53 GMT -5
I know I've posted about this topic in the past but I'll chime in again. This will be my eighth year involved in coaching ODP, in all those years we probably get asked to take second looks at most two players a year for whatever reason. Ultimately it's the coaching staffs decision alone whether to take the player or not. I've never had a DOC or parent pressure me or the other coaches on our team to take a player. Additionally Jacob has never asked us to take a player, he empowers the coaches to make that decision. With so many kids out there we are never going to get it 100% correct but any coach with any credibility wants to get it as right as he/she can. The top players are easy to identify as are the bottom third, that leaves about 75% in the middle third who will take up a bulk of the spots on the team, it's never an exact science. Even pro scouts who do this full time don't get it right.
There are politics in every facet of life but I think when people cry politics it's just a way to absolve themselves of personal responsibility. We live in a society where unfortunately we have to blame someone when we don't get what we want, if a child doesn't make the team it's the coaches fault, if a child gets a C it's the teachers fault...rarely do you ever hear "maybe we just weren't good enough" or "I didn't do enough to separate myself from the others players and I didn't do the things on my own to make myself successful". It's always someone else's fault except for the person who didn't get what they wanted.
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Post by jash on Sept 16, 2016 11:15:49 GMT -5
I know I've posted about this topic in the past but I'll chime in again. This will be my eighth year involved in coaching ODP, in all those years we probably get asked to take second looks at most two players a year for whatever reason. Ultimately it's the coaching staffs decision alone whether to take the player or not. I've never had a DOC or parent pressure me or the other coaches on our team to take a player. Additionally Jacob has never asked us to take a player, he empowers the coaches to make that decision. With so many kids out there we are never going to get it 100% correct but any coach with any credibility wants to get it as right as he/she can. The top players are easy to identify as are the bottom third, that leaves about 75% in the middle third who will take up a bulk of the spots on the team, it's never an exact science. Even pro scouts who do this full time don't get it right. There are politics in every facet of life but I think when people cry politics it's just a way to absolve themselves of personal responsibility. We live in a society where unfortunately we have to blame someone when we don't get what we want, if a child doesn't make the team it's the coaches fault, if a child gets a C it's the teachers fault...rarely do you ever hear "maybe we just weren't good enough" or "I didn't do enough to separate myself from the others players and I didn't do the things on my own to make myself successful". It's always someone else's fault except for the person who didn't get what they wanted. Certainly there is some of that but I promise you it's not the only reason people cry politics. Your numbers don't jibe with the numbers of kids I personally know who had the DOC call for second looks (and third in at least one case) -- and that's just at my one small club. I assure you, though, that me saying 'politics' has nothing to do with my kid.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Sept 16, 2016 11:52:27 GMT -5
I know I've posted about this topic in the past but I'll chime in again. This will be my eighth year involved in coaching ODP, in all those years we probably get asked to take second looks at most two players a year for whatever reason. Ultimately it's the coaching staffs decision alone whether to take the player or not. I've never had a DOC or parent pressure me or the other coaches on our team to take a player. Additionally Jacob has never asked us to take a player, he empowers the coaches to make that decision. With so many kids out there we are never going to get it 100% correct but any coach with any credibility wants to get it as right as he/she can. The top players are easy to identify as are the bottom third, that leaves about 75% in the middle third who will take up a bulk of the spots on the team, it's never an exact science. Even pro scouts who do this full time don't get it right. There are politics in every facet of life but I think when people cry politics it's just a way to absolve themselves of personal responsibility. We live in a society where unfortunately we have to blame someone when we don't get what we want, if a child doesn't make the team it's the coaches fault, if a child gets a C it's the teachers fault...rarely do you ever hear "maybe we just weren't good enough" or "I didn't do enough to separate myself from the others players and I didn't do the things on my own to make myself successful". It's always someone else's fault except for the person who didn't get what they wanted. Certainly there is some of that but I promise you it's not the only reason people cry politics. Your numbers don't jibe with the numbers of kids I personally know who had the DOC call for second looks (and third in at least one case) -- and that's just at my one small club. I assure you, though, that me saying 'politics' has nothing to do with my kid. I can't speak to your experience but as I said we only get asked to take a second look once or two a year, this is for 2002 Boys specifically. There isn't any harm in advocating for someone that maybe an evaluator made a gross error in judgement or giving someone a second look because they may have been sick or injured I wouldn't say that's politics. Putting someone on the team that clearly has no business would be politics, again I haven't experienced that either.
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Post by guest on Sept 16, 2016 13:50:41 GMT -5
On a related note, does anyone know why some age groups have the comment: "The following Goalkeepers are still being evaluated for the Final State Pool and should attend training sessions until further notice."? Other age groups look final.
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Post by spectator on Sept 16, 2016 14:41:31 GMT -5
On a related note, does anyone know why some age groups have the comment: "The following Goalkeepers are still being evaluated for the Final State Pool and should attend training sessions until further notice."? Other age groups look final. That's always been how it worked on the girls side - they want to see the goalkeepers up against the field players in the practices not just the limited time they may or may not have be challenged in tryouts. Sometimes goalies have to come back a few times depending on the numbers at the first few practices. Those tend to be not 100% attended because club games come before ODP and ODP practices start as ECNL, RPL and Athena seasons are in full force. Nothing sinister - it's actually a more fair process for the goalies.
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