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New Jersey Youth Soccer ODP Program Description |
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New Jersey Youth Soccer ODP Program Description |
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The US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (ODP) is a national program as set forth by the Amateur Sports Act enacted in 1978. The program is used to identify players for the state, regional and national teams. The ODP is a multi-step selection process that begins at the area level and continues to the state, regional and national pools and teams. As such, the NJYS ODP Program will be modified during the year to conform to Regional and National ODP schedules.
Initial Pool Selection
U13s - U14sInitial Pool Selection
U15s-U16s-U17sFinal State Pool Selection Final State Pool Training Region I Tournament Region I Camps The NJYS ODP Program begins in August of the current year and continues to the end of the following July. The cycle consists of:
- Initial State Pool Selection
- Final State Pool Selection
- Final State Pool Training
- Event Weekend
- Region I ODP Tournament
- Regional CampsAll players are invited to tryout for the Initial State Pools. For the U13 and U14 age groups, the initial pool selection begins with tryouts in each Area from which an Area Pool is selected. The Initial State Pool is then selected from the four Area Pools. For all other age groups, the Initial State Pool is selected from all the candidates that participate in the open tryout. Initial State Pool selections will begin in August.
The Final State Pool Selection is held in the Spring of the following year. After the Final State Pools are selected, the selected players will continue to train through June. The first weekend of June has been designated as an Event Weekend where the various pools will attend a selected event such as a mini-camp or tournament. The following weekend, all pools will participate in the Region I ODP Tournament.
The Regional Camps, held in July, represent the end of the NJYS program. All players in the Final State Pool are expected to attend the appropriate Regional Camp. At these camps, the Region will select a Regional Pool of players.
Tryouts are open to all youth players that reside in the state of New Jersey. For the younger age groups, the State is divided in four areas:
North Area Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Sussex and Morris Counties Central Area Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Warren Counties Shore Area Monmouth and Ocean Counties South Area Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties Players must participate in their birth year only - positively no playing up. For the purposes of international competition, FIFA has mandated the use of calendar years for determining eligibility of players. This affects ODP only.
Initial Pool Selection - U13s and U14sFor the U13s and U14s, the New Jersey ODP begins at the Area level, the first of step in this selection process. The state of New Jersey is divided into four areas for NJYS ODP pool tryouts. All players at these age groups that wish to try out for the State ODP pools must begin at this level. Players will try out in August at announced locations in their ODP area of New Jersey. A detailed schedule will published on the NJYS website.
Players must attend at least one tryout, but are encouraged to attend all scheduled tryouts. Players will be evaluated on their performance at the tryouts attended. Players will not be given a waiver for injury or illness. A player who cannot attend at least one of the area tryouts is ineligible for the ODP program for the rest of the cycle.
Registration forms for the Initial Pool Tryouts are available on this site. Forms may also be emailed. Contact the NJYS office at office@njyouthsoccer.com. Forms may also be distributed by travel leagues.
NJYS evaluators will evaluate all players and Area Pools will be determined from their inputs. Parents are expected not to try to influence evaluators by speaking with or contacting the evaluators or members of the ODP staff. Players may be disqualified if such contact occurs. Area Pools of up to 25 players will be selected.
Area Tryout Procedures
The skills that will be evaluated for field players are ball control, technical speed, awareness, and work rate. For goalkeepers, the skills evaluated are catching high, catching low, angle play/positioning, and distribution. These evaluations will be conducted during a series of short, small-sided games. Depending on the number of players trying out, these games will start as 4v4 games and the number of players per team will increase as the tryouts continue. However, we will not exceed 8v8 play. No standings will be kept and winning the game is not the objective. The evaluators will be looking for playing abilities and qualities.
The evaluators will consist of current instructors of the NJYS Coaching Schools program, current and former professional players, current professional coaches, and nationally licensed coaches. All evaluators will be selected and approved by the NJYS Director of Coaching.
Players may not wear their team or club jersey, shorts or socks to the ODP tryouts. Each player will be given a tryout t-shirt that must be worn during the tryouts.
A pool of up to 25 players will be chosen for each area. NJYS will notify all players who were selected to participate at the next level of the ODP Tryout Process.
The selected Area Pools will participate in the second round of the Initial Tryouts. ODP State coaches and evaluators will observe these games to evaluate and identify players. Two pools of up to 25 players will be chosen for the initial State pools for each age group. The Upper Pool will consist of players from the North and Central areas and the Lower Pool will consist of players from the Shore and South areas. NJYS will notify all players who were selected for the initial State Pool. These Initial State Pools may have activities during January, February, and March as weather and field availability allow. Players will be notified when an activity is planned.
Initial Pool Selection - U15s, U16s, and U17sOpen tryouts will be conducted to determine the initial State Pools for the U15, U16, and U17 age groups. Players must participate in their birth year. Players must attend at least one tryout, but are encouraged to attend all tryouts. Players will be evaluated on their performance at the tryouts attended. Players will not be given a waiver for injury or illness. A player who cannot attend at least one of the tryouts is ineligible for the ODP program for the rest of the year.
Registration forms for these tryouts are available on this site. Forms may also be emailed. Contact the NJYS office at office@njyouthsoccer.com. Forms may also be distributed by travel leagues.
NJYS evaluators will evaluate all players and the initial State Pools will be determined from their inputs. Parents are expected not to try to influence evaluators by speaking with or contacting the evaluators or members of the ODP staff. Players may be disqualified if such contact occurs.
Players will be selected to participate in the initial State Pools. The Initial State Pools will have up to 30 players. NJYS will notify all players who were selected for the initial State Pool. These Initial State Pools may have activities during January, February, and March as weather and field availability allow. Players will be notified when an activity is planned.
Final State Pool Selection - All Age GroupsThe final State Pools will be selected from the initial state pools. The U15, U16, and U17 final State Pools will have up to 25 players. The U13 and U14 age groups will have two teams of up to 25 players for Developmental Regional Camp training. For the U13 and U14 age groups, two State Pools will be selected. NJYS will notify all players who were selected for the final State Pool.
Final State Pool Training and ActivitiesState Pools will begin training as soon as the Final State Pool selections are announced. This training will be to develop the players' individual skills and tactical abilities. Additionally, there will be scrimmages and friendlies against club teams and other ODP pools.
Training will usually be held once a week and all players are expected to attend all practices unless excused by the ODP Administrator for their group.
In the event of inclement weather, a decision regarding ODP training will be made as soon as possible. The decision regarding training cancellation based on available information will be made at 3:00 PM. Once a decision has been made, it will be placed on the NJYS Website and the NJYS News Line:
1-800-8-NJSYSA
1-800-865-7972Call the News Line after 3:00 PM and follow the directions for listening to ODP information. If there is no message canceling a training session - training will be held!
Each pool will participate in an ODP event on the first weekend in June. The current plans are that the following events will be held. The ODP program descriptions for each age group will have specific dates when available.
The u13-U16 Boys will attend a mini-camp
The U13 and U14 girls will attend a mini-camp.
The U15, U16, and U17 girls will attend the Texas Shootout in Houston, TX
Each of these events is subject to change, and for the tournament events, not every player in the pool will be invited to attend.
All of the final State Pools will attend the Region I ODP Tournament which is scheduled for the second weekend in June at Rider University and other fields in the area. Games may be scheduled on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This event is open to ODP teams from all of Region I.
For the U13s and U14s, each pool will play three games in a round robin fashion. Since these are developmental age groups, there are no standings kept.
The U17s will play three games in their group and the winner of that group will advance to the semi-finals match of this age group. The semi-final and final matches will be held on the fourth weekend in June at Kirkwood, DE.
The U15s and U16s have been designated as the age groups to participate in the US Youth Soccer National ODP tournament. They will also play three games in their group with the winner advancing on to the semi-final match. The semi-final and final matches will be held on the fourth weekend in June at Kirkwood, DE. The winners of the Region I Tournament in these age groups will then participate in the US Youth Soccer Championship that will be held in March of the following year.
Every player in the Final State Pool will be invited to attend the Region I Camp for that age group. The camps have ODP players from all of the Region I state associations. These camps are held in the middle of July at various university sites through out the Region. Players will be asked to make a commitment to attend their Regional Camp in mid-May.
It should be the goal of every NJYS ODP player to attend the Regional camp for each player's age group. If a player does not want to attend the Regional camp, the player should reconsider their participation in the program. NJYS will consider a players non attendance of the Regional Camps in previous years as the final pools are selected.
Players participating in the ODP will be required to pay certain fees at each level of participation. The first fee players will pay is a registration fee for the initial pool tryouts. If a player is selected to the final State Pool, additional fees will be collected. Also, if player attends a regional camp, there will be a camp fee as set by Region I ODP programs. The specific fee for each age group will be provided in the program details available on this website.
No player will be refused the opportunity to participate in the New Jersey Olympic Development Program because of financial need through the State level process. If necessary, payment arrangements can be made. A Financial Aid Form is sent to every player selected for the final State pool. If you require financial aid, please fill out the form and the completed form should be returned to the NJYS Office for review. Please be assured that all financial aid information will be held in the strictest of confidence.
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This page last modified on September 23, 2007
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