Tag Archives: sports

ODP

24 Aug

Is ODP Still Worth It in 2025? A Parent’s Perspective

I grew up in an era where ODP (Olympic Development Program) was prestigious. The best players showed up, the coaching was top-notch, and it was THE pathway to the US National Team. I was invited twice, drawing dead to make it, but I vividly remember thinking that it was a big deal because every superstar was there battling. It was also cool seeing 3-4 kids from that tryout make it all the way to the USMNT Under – teams.

Fast forward to 2025—ODP doesn’t quite carry the same reputation. It’s lost that clear pathway status, and the talent pool varies more. The two things I hear most often when parents ask if it’s worth it:

  1. “It’s just a money grab.”
  2. “It’s worthwhile—if your kid is a good player.”

Here’s my experience going through the process with my U12 daughter.

The Tryouts: Worth Every Penny

The state tryout fee was about $175 for 8+ hours of soccer. To me, that’s a bargain, not a money grab. The environment itself is the value—you can’t simulate that kind of pressure and competition at practice. Even if you don’t make the team, the tryouts are an outstanding training ground. There was a few girls that were clearly outmatched. I was talking to the dad of one of those girls and he said that she was the best player on her objectively terrible team and they wanted to come to see what the best girls in the state looked like and how much work they need to do. The $175 they paid probably taught them a lot.

Are the selections political? Probably to some degree. It would be naïve to think otherwise, they know what clubs the players play for. But from what I saw, things were generally more than fair and players from smaller clubs made it.

The Value Depends on Who Shows Up

If you’re a parent of an elite player, the biggest benefit comes from the group your child is surrounded by. That’s what makes or breaks the experience. Some years and some age groups draw deeper talent pools than others. From what I’ve seen, younger age groups—before ECNL/GA fully take over—tend to have better turnouts.

At Lexie’s tryout, they split the group into older/younger by birth year. Both teams ended up being strong. Not every top player came, many did not, but the overall level was high. As a dad who is just generally interested in the landscape of youth sports, it was fantastic—Lexie got to play with great kids, and I got to meet a lot of their parents. That alone made it worthwhile.

The Challenges as Kids Get Older

As players progress, the pool thins. Time and cost commitments pile up on top of elite club demands, so families naturally opt out. That’s why the talent level sometimes dips at older ages.

Still from what I have been told by parents that have been through the recruiting process, the designations—State, Regional, National—do carry some weight. College coaches can’t be everywhere, and having ODP on your resume certainly doesn’t hurt, but it’s just a small piece of the puzzle.

The Games: The Weakest Part

Here’s where I was disappointed. You have 16 elite girls who normally play full games and now they are playing 30-35 minutes. They could easily play three games in a day, yet they only play one “friendly” a day. It’s really just a huge fail. And when you gather teams from 12 states, why not run a true tournament? We drove 9.5 hours—why not make it a showcase and a competition? I can’t figure out who they are protecting. I think the level of play would increase with a little more state pride as well. Winning “Best of the Midwest” for your state would be a cool achievement.

My Takeaways & Advice for Parents

  • Do it early. Younger groups often have stronger turnouts and the value is highest.
  • Always attend tryouts. Even if your kid doesn’t make the team, the experience is invaluable.
  • Don’t overlook the networking value. The friendships and connections can be just as important as the soccer. I would suggest going out of your way to talk to other players parents. You really do learn a lot, and it’s a small world of committed soccer players.
  • Be realistic about commitment. The State events are pretty reasonable, but going all the way to Regional or National is a big investment, both financially and time-wise.

Lexie didn’t make the Regional team this year, which was tough. I selfishly wanted to see the National Tryouts, just to experience that level. We’re on the fence about trying again—but either way, I don’t regret the time or money we spent and would recommend trying it at least once to everyone serious about soccer.

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COACHING

5 Jan

This is a real-life, true story of what is possible with great coaching. I feel fortunate to have been close enough to some of the parties involved to understand how the story unfolded. Frankly, knowing what was possible in the right circumstances renewed my passion in youth sports.

The normal path towards travel soccer is AYSO success > kiddie travel club training > travel team. I was in the kiddie travel club stage with either my son or daughter, I don’t quite remember, minding my own business when I see this little mohawked kid that was probably 4 or 5 years old. He was like a kid you would see on Instagram reels from Spain or Brazil. Spectacular technique, stepovers, scissors at full speed, rocket shots with his laces, landing on his shooting foot. Clearly a kid that has spent his short time on Earth playing soccer everyday. I remember thinking, huh, that’s pretty rare. I approached the dad to see what his story was cause I love seeing these type of things, but he wasn’t very interested in any banter. I later found it was his like 7th or 8th kid and one of them was already in the MLS so baby training soccer wasn’t as exciting for him as it was for me.

The prodigal kid signed up for the travel team that was hosting those trainings which happened to have my nephew on the team. They were a new team, they had good players, everyone involved assume they would be a top team. How could they not be? They had a coach that was/is well-respected and still coaches some solid teams. However, they weren’t very good, nowhere near the best team in the state. At one point they were even losing to bridge teams – teams between rec and travel. Totally unacceptable given the talent and amount of training that the travel kids would have over the other non travel kids. It’s like if a G-League team beat an NBA team or something. Even looking back now, the results they had seem impossibly bad knowing how good some of those kids would become.

At some point during the second season, the dad of the prodigal kid gets frustrated. He can’t take it anymore takes 5-6 players off the team adds a few new players and forms his own team. He tells the parents – we are gonna train like crazy, we are gonna travel like crazy, but we’re gonna be really good. If you stick with me they will be choosing their colleges when they are done. Without foreshadowing too much, I remember thinking that was a WILD claim at the time, but also greatly underestimated the commitment that these kids and parents would be taking on.

In 1.5 years they went from like #3000 in the country to the #1 team in the country. In hindsight, the dad/coach probably got lucky with some of the athleticism the kids he brought had (or some very good foresight), but essentially it took 18 months of training for them to go from mediocre in the state to the best team in the country. They held this spot for roughly three years falling at worst falling to at worst around number five. Over that span they were clearly the best team and held number one for the longest periods. In addition, almost all of the top national “teams” are essentially big city All-Star teams. They don’t play or practice together regularly. Miami, Dallas, NY, they just pick their best players and make a “team.” In LA, it’s the Eddie Johnson Academy (former National Team Player), and if your kid is really good you can play in a tournament on their “team.” Those teams never have to worry about not having a good goalie or player injuries like my nephew’s team. They would just send out the bat signal and get the next superstar guest player at any position and not miss a beat. My nephews team was a true team, and they annihilated everyone. Currently in non-gate kept leagues, they are the only team in Michigan in the top 10 nationally – that’s how rare they are.

So, back to coaching: a full-time coach being paid a salary at a top club couldn’t get the same players to top 15 in the state, but in 18 months, a “dad” (I use that term liberally cause he is obviously and amazing coach) was able to take those players to #1 in the country. This is the start of a long point and multiple blogs about how much coaching matters and what good coaching actually means. So what did the dad of the prodigy do differently than everyone else? Stay tuned for part 2!

Video of one the young kid probably right before they started the journey to #1. The competition might look soft but they are super young and this is actually at the biggest tournament in the Midwest.

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Soccer Blog

8 Nov

I’m going to bring my old blog back as a soccer parent blog – I might toss in some real estate related posts as well, who knows.

Growing up soccer was not my best sport or favorite sport. I did play year-round on very good but not national level club teams, but soccer always took a back seat to basketball, baseball, and eventually golf. Now, I’m an immersed soccer parent. I spend a lot of time thinking about youth soccer, one day plan to coach, and I am excited to have a front row seat to the development of two of my kids and and also very curious to watch the tops players in these age groups grow and develop to see if I can learn something along the way.

My kids currently play for the Michigan Stars. As a club they recently had a big merger, they are on the come-up as an organization, strong but not top and only 8 minutes from our house. My daughter plays on a very strong team, currently #2 in Michigan and probably a top 30 team nationally. My 13-year old son plays on the Michigan Stars Elite Second team (ranked 16 in the state of Michigan).

My son (Will) and my daughter (Lexie) have had very different soccer journeys. My son was never a true standout at any level and has slowly and steadily climbed the ladder. When I coached him in AYSO, he was the 3rd best player out of 7. As a parent, I don’t really subscribe to playing sports for fun. I see sports “fun” as a function of improvement and winning. I don’t see how staying the same or getting worse and losing can ever be enjoyable for the kid or the parent. As a life lesson, I think sports teaches a critical lesson that effort leads to improvement and then results, even if its not always very linear.

In order to justify the time (and money) commitment , I think a child should show the willingness to work outside of practice to improve. If after a few years they complain about practice or extra training, I think it’s best to find something they like better. But I do recommend forcing them at young ages to try things – don’t let fear of new things block them.

Over the last six years there were 1-2 times where I was considering talking to my son about quitting soccer or spending our time on something else. It just seemed like he was going through the motions. Almost as I was ready to have that conversation with him, the switch flipped.

Will was lucky enough to make a team with a great coach with a winning mentality. My son’s willingness to improve outside of practice and excitement for the sport has never been higher. It’s a very exciting time for him. He wants to be a varsity soccer player, I think that’s certainly within reach and with a little luck on the athleticism front, who knows after that.

Lexie is more of a natural athlete. I spent so much time getting ready for AYSO with my son – my daughter who was 3 or 4 at the time would just hang around. Then she would come in and I would give her a few minutes at the end, never really thinking much of it. Lexie went into AYSO pretty much cold and was way better than all the other kids, boys and girls. I remember looking at my wife Katie and asking her if she saw this coming and she shrugged and laughed along with me. The natural path is that you get invited to a travel team after that and meet more of the kids that were AYSO standouts.

So we have a – the natural vs the hard-worker dynamic developing. My son has seen some adversity and overcome it. My daughter for the most part has yet to hit any real adversity. It will be interesting to see how that plays out – not as competitors vs each other obviously – but as how the different paths have different challenges. I don’t plan to blog much about my kids or their teams specifically, but mostly about parenting/coaching/soccer/training and then more about the local, state, and even national landscape of soccer.

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