What To Expect at a Regional ODP Soccer ID Camp
Hey, friend! We’re deep in the throws of fire-hot July, and as I’m typing this, Joel and I are driving the three boys home from our first experience with a regional ID camp for ODP (Olympic Development Program) soccer. Our oldest son, Jack, is 12 and got invited to participate in this next-level process to identify players for the Southern region United States Youth Soccer team. It was a great weekend!! I’ve tried to lay out some details about the event before I forget, so that when your soccer player gets selected next year, you’ll have a rundown of what to expect at the ODP Region ID tryouts.
What That Means (in mom-speak):
He already has tried out for and made the Georgia Soccer state ODP team, which has maybe 50-60 players in his age group. This is his third summer as a member of the state team, and we’ve had a great experience with it so far! You can read more about our experience on the state team here.
This past May, we got an email saying he had been identified as one of a handful of players on his team chosen to participate in the regional identification camp—thank goodness my husband checks our emails more regularly than I do! Thus, players chosen from the 12 southeastern states in our region were all traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a 3 day ID camp. He was one of 17 players on his state team that participated.
What We Had to Do as Parents:
About a month before the event, the USYS regional director conducted an informational zoom meeting for parents, outlining what to expect and how to prepare our players adequately. One piece of information they really stressed was the level of initiative and responsibility they’d be looking for in the players. Each player was responsible for creating his/her own individual development plan (IDP) without the input of parents and/or coaches. The coach conducting the zoom meeting also gave details about which team scouts would be present at the event and how decisions would be made.
In our case, scouts from all 7 MLS (major league soccer) academy teams in the south came, as well as scouts from the US national team and a handful of other scouts from around the country.
He also encouraged us to make sure our players were well fed and hydrated the week leading up to the event, especially because of the extreme heat and the demanding schedule.
Main items of note:
We were expected to get our players to the fields at least 45 minutes early for both training sessions and games.
We were told to be watchers and not sideline coaches.
We needed to be flexible, because summer weather can be unpredictable. Also, they reserved the right to move players around on the randomly-assembled teams; we were asked not to read anything into changes that might be made.
What They Expect from Players:
Like I mentioned above, personal initiative and responsibility were major expectations of the players. They needed to bring all their own gear and keep up with it, never blaming it on their parents if they didn’t have their shin guards or whatever else they’d forgotten to bring. The coaches probably stressed this more than any other rule of the whole event. They told the kids to remind their parents to leave the hotel early and then, if necessary, to get dropped off at the fields before their parents parked—every last detail was meant to show them that it was time for them to take ownership of their game.
They also had to bring their completed IDP (also mentioned above), which was a roughly 3-page PDF form emailed to us ahead of time. Not only were the players to complete the plan themselves, but they needed to know what was in it and be prepared to discuss it with their coaches. Most of them had never met their coaches or many of their teammates until the first training of the ID camp on Friday morning, which seems to be something to note in case your player is shy. Our son did have one teammate from his state team, but the rest of his team was made up of players from the other 11 states participating.
Main points to note:
Players had to bring and keep up with all their own gear, including a water bottle. They provided water but no cups/containers.
Players were told to ask questions to their coaches, showing that they’re taking initiative in learning and growing their game. This event was not the time to keep quiet and worry that you’re being a bother to the adults.
Attitude, as always, is everything! Players who were not teachable or reacted poorly to constructive criticism would not be selected to move on, no matter what.
Very few players will be selected to move on to the regional pools, teams, and eventually nationals. The players from years past who ultimately have been the most successful are those who come, learn, don’t move up right away, and then learn from the feedback. Many are selected after their 2nd or 3rd invite and go on to be more successful than those chosen in the first year, because they’re not afraid of failure. I loved this point!
Schedule:
For us, the event was held at UNC Charlotte’s rec fields, and the schedule went like this:
Training session Friday and Saturday mornings— 9 am
lasted about an hour and a half, including water breaks
included a scrimmage against one of the other teams of same age group
each team had one USYS coach and around 15-17 players, including goalkeepers
Games Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning—3 pm and 7:30 am (on Sun)
one game per day
2 halves that lasted about 30 min (instead of 35, due to heat), short halftime break
medic tent at the fields with medical staff present
one coach per team (same coach they were with in morning training sessions)
What To Bring:
All your player’s soccer gear
Camping chairs—there were no bleachers, so parents just set up chairs along the sidelines
Umbrella/tent for shade—fields were turf, so you can imagine how brutal the heat was once the sun came out!
Water bottles—the bigger the better! Extra large or even the big jugs would be helpful.
Backpack cooler
Liquid IV, Biolyte, or another type of hydration supplement
Small meals/large snacks for pre-training fuel, in addition to regular meals and other snacks. We bought these protein cups and made these protein balls ahead of time, and they worked perfectly! Jack ate a protein cup and a banana before the morning training, along with drinking a water bottle full of Liquid IV and water. Our son also puts gummy bears in his bag and pops a couple at half time, just to make sure his blood sugar stays on track.
Some way to shade your phone if you plan to video the trainings and/or games. The direct sun and heat largely prevented us from being able to video, because the phone would quickly overheat.
Sunscreen—one for the player’s bag and one for the sidelines
Cooling towels—in case your player gets overheated
Blister packs—all that sweating combined with multiple sessions a day can lead to more blisters than usual
So that pretty much wraps up our first experience at a regional ODP identification camp. Has your player participated in one before? If so, I’d love for you to share your experience in the comments below so that we can all learn from you! What else did you bring to set your player up well?
Thanks for being on this journey with us! For my insight into why we chose to invest the time and money it takes in ODP, check out this post!
