Olympic Development Program (ODP)
Mission Statement
The Olympic Development Program (ODP) is a national program which is designed to identify and develop talented, committed youth soccer players to represent their state, region, and country in soccer competitions. It is also intended to aid in the preparing and showcasing of the players as student/athletes for exposure into collegiate soccer programs.
Objective
The main ODP objective is to identify, evaluate, and train highly talented male and female youth soccer players. As part of this national effort, the Utah Youth Soccer Association's (UYSA) ODP is dedicated to developing the highest level of youth soccer. This objective must be achieved in an atmosphere of integrity, fairness, and impartiality. The player's physical and cognitive skills and attitude must be the only criteria for the program. The procedure to achieve this objective must be approved by the UYSA Board of Director's and must not conflict with any United States Youth Soccer Association's (USYSA) or United States Soccer Federation (USSF) policies.
The secondary objectives are to:
- Evaluate and select players in each ODP age group for a state pool of players from which state team players are selected.
- Advance the soccer skills and knowledge of players in each ODP age group.
- Provide competitions for state teams in each ODP age group.
While individual leagues or districts may have additional objectives for their local programs, those objectives must not adversely affect the success of the ODP.
ODP participation does not mean that the players do not participate on their club team. ODP participation, whether at the pool, state, regional, or national level, is concurrent with club team participation. The advantages outweigh any conflicts this might pose.
Selection Process:
Beginning in October and progressing into November, players are invited to attend open tryouts across the State for their prospective age group. Once all open tryouts have been completed, a pool of players will be chosen in each age group. A team of 18 players will be selected from the final pool to compete at Regional Selection Tournaments and Exchanges, where the ODP State Coaching Staff evaluates the players for final selection to Region Camp. The tryouts will generally consist of games assessed by UYSA ODP Staff who organize players into groups in order to evaluate them in a playing environment. Speed, strength and agility will also be assessed.
Selection is never an easy task for age group coaches. The age group Head Coach uses input from other qualified coaches and evaluators at tryouts to make their selections. Final decisions for all teams will be determined by the age group Head Coach and the UYSA State Technical Director. Players may also be identified and added to the pool at various times throughout the year at the recommendation of State Scouting Staff with the approval of the UYSA State Technical Director.
Players are evaluated on the four components that make up a soccer player:
- Technique
- Tactics
- Fitness and Athletic Ability
- Psychological Component (general attitude)
Benefits
- Development as a player. The opportunity to train and play with the best players in one's age group.
- Quality instruction from top-level ODP Staff Coaches.
- Quality competition. Games against other states' ODP Teams.
- Exposure to Regional and National Team Coaches.
- The opportunity to represent one's State, Region or Nation in competition.
- Exposure to college coaches.
Region IV ODP Camp
A week-long evaluation camp is held in July for each ODP age group. State ODP Teams compete against each other throughout the week, with the players being evaluated by Regional and National coaches and evaluators.
During the week of competition and training sessions, the players are housed in dormitories and will eattheir meals in a dining hall or cafeteria. State teams normally train in the morning and play a game against another State ODP Team in the afternoon. Each day, Regional and National coaches and evaluators select players to participate in an invitation game to be showcased.
At the end of camp, the Regional Coaches select those players they want to stay-over for a second week of training and games. These players will train with the Regional Staff Coaches as a member of the Region IV Pool for their age group.
Utah, along with Alaska, Arizona, Cal-North, Cal-South, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming comprise Region IV of the United States Youth Soccer Association. It is the best Olympic Development Players from these State Associations that are selected as members of the Regional Pool for their respective age group. The Regional Team Head Coach will then select his/her Regional Team from those players in the pool.
Region IV Team
After the Regional Team is formed in July, competition may be scheduled anytime during the year. They usually play the other three Regional Teams over Thanksgiving. Because this is during the school year, you should obtain your high school principal's permission 30 days prior to departure. Although the USYSA sanctions the competition and you are participating in the ODP, you can still lose your high school eligibility if you do not obtain permission to compete during the school year. This permission must be obtained by filing a letter of intent 30 days prior to any ODP event. If your principal refuses, please contact the Regional Administrator or Chairperson.
Financial Assistance
Utah Youth Soccer makes every effort to ensure that ODP and JDA participation is achievable for everyone - regardless of cost. Financial assistance may be obtained by contacting your current Club, League or District representatives. Limited financial assistance may also be available through the ODP and JDA Scholarship Fund. In special cases, an installment payment plan can be coordinated. If you foresee financial difficulty, please contact the UYSA State Office at (801) 268-3365 x 104. To ensure confidentiality, please make all requests to Greg Maas, State Technical Director or Gail Ellison, ODP Administrator.
Conclusion
The UYSA ODP plays an important role in the development of soccer in Utah. It gives our players the opportunity to train and compete at a high-level and to bring back what they have learned to their respective teams and clubs. We hope that all players with the potential to play at this level will participate in the UYSA ODP.
