ODP Calendar 2008/09

Players can tryout at any location, see below for tryout details:

Tryout Weekends:

Fairbanks                 Aug.  23, 24     FYSA Complex          

Anchorage                Sept. 5, 6, 7      TBA

Peninsula in Kenai    Sept. 8                TBA

Juneau                      Sept. 13, 14      TBA           

Tryout Schedules:

Aug. 23, 24     Fairbanks - FYSA Complex

Saturday

8-9:30am          96 Girls and Boys

9:30-11am         95 Girls and Boys

11-12:30           94 Girls and Boys

2:00-3:30pm     93/92 Girls and Boys 

3:30-4:30pm     All Goalkeepers

Sunday

8-9:30am          96 Girls and Boys

9:30-11am          95 Girls and Boys

11:30-1             94 Girls and Boys         

1-2:30pm          93/92 Girls and Boys     

Sept. 5, 6, and 7     Anchorage – De La Vega Park fields

Friday

4-6:00pm          92 Girls and Boys

6-8:00pm          93 Girls and Boys

Saturday

8-10:00am         94 Girls and Boys

10-Noon           95 Girls and Boys

1-3:00pm          96 Girls and Boys

3-5:00pm          92 Girls and Boys

5-6.30pm          All Goalkeepers

Sunday

8-10:00am         93 Girls and Boys

10-Noon           94 Girls and Boys

1-3:00pm          95 Girls and Boys

3-5:00pm          96 Girls and Boys

Sept. 8         Peninsula at Kenai – FAA Fields (behind Arby’s in Kenai)

Monday

4-5:00pm        92, 93, 94 Girls and Boys

5-6:00pm        95, 96 Girls and Boys

6-7:00pm        92, 93, 94 Girls and Boys

7-8:00pm        95, 96 Girls and Boys

Sept. 13, 14   Juneau - Downtown Turf Field

Saturday  

1-2:30pm          96 Girls and Boys

2:30-4pm          95 Girls and Boys

4-5:30pm          94 Girls and Boys

5-6pm               All Goalkeepers

Sunday

9-10:30am         93/92 Girls and Boys

10:30-Noon      96 Girls and Boys

1-2:30pm          95 Girls and Boys

2:30-4pm          94 Girls and Boys

4-5:30pm          93/92 Girls and Boys

Following Tryouts, the Mini Camp Player Pool announcements will be posted at socceralaska.org on the ODP page on Sept. 21^st

Planned Mini Camp Weekends – These are NOT Confirmed at this time but will be as soon as facilities are finalized.

Fairbanks                    Nov. 14, 15, 16       Location TBA                   

Anchorage/Wasilla      Jan. 9, 10, 11,         Location TBA                              

Juneau                       Feb. 20, 21, 22        Location TBA

Final State Team Announcements will take place in Late Feb/Early March                            

Optional International Travel     Spring Break, March 09

Optional In state event for 96 & 95   May 16, 17, 09

Region IV Camp           Late June/July 09    

('08 locations were: Girls –Stockton, CA, Boys - McMinnville, OR.  2009 locations and age group camp dates are TBA by Region IV, usually in the spring)
See regioniv.com for regional camp dates and announcements

Alaska ODP Information

Alaska State Association ODP is the state level of player identification for national level men’s and women’s Olympic and National Team training and competition.  Between the state level and National level is Regional Level.  Our Region, Region IV is comprised of 14 states on the western region of the United States.  Region IV Camp is a development and tryout camp for the Olympic regional teams. 

ODP is for soccer players who want additional high level player training and aspire to try-out for these future Regional, Olympic, and National Team pools with US Youth Soccer and United States Soccer Federation.   Alaska State ODP is prepared to identify and train competitive soccer players within our state.  ODP age groups are different from club soccer and are organized only by birth year.  The coming ODP year, 2007/08, we will work with players born in the following birth years (age groups): 1992, 93, 94, 95, and 96. 

To make the Alaska ODP State Team players go through a two level tryout and training process.  Players attend an initial tryout in one of the three most highly populated locations, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau in August/Sept.   Selected players are then invited to the mini camps, up to 25 in each gender and age group, which take place in the same locations, from November to February.  Following the Mini Camp phase, players who qualify by virtue of attendance and performance, are selected to the State Select Team who represents Alaska at the Region IV Camp in July.  

ODP has been in place identifying and training Olympic and National team players for over 20 years.  The program remains the main source of elite player identification in the United States.  State level ODP participation is considered by college coaches as a necessity on soccer resume to play at high levels in college.

Tryout Details

Players must attend a minimum of two appropriate age group sessions at the tryout to be considered for the mini-camp pool. 

The only exception made is for players who are playing in varsity HS games, matches or meets during the time of the tryout.  Only with a note from their varsity HS coach, indicating that the conflict is with an official game, match or meet, can a player attend only one session of the tryout and be considered. This note must be received prior to the ODP tryout event.

If a player has an injury he/she is still required to attend at least two session (even if he/she can’t play) to be considered.  A doctor’s note must be sent to either the directors or the administrators prior to the event.   

Goalkeepers are requested to attend both of their age group sessions and the GK session.  At a minimum GK must attend two of the three sessions to qualify for the mini- camp pool. 

Mini-Camps – Player Evaluation and Group Preparation

Group training and final evaluation are the goals for the Mini-Camp phase of ODP. The three day Mini-Camps will take place throughout the winter and spring. There will be a total of three Mini-Camps, one in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks.  In an effort to recognize and minimize travel costs as much as possible, players are required to attend a minimum of two of the three Mini-Camps to be eligible for Final Team selection. Players CAN attend all three Mini-Camps. Following the Mini-Camps, Final Team selection and Alternates will be named. All players making it into the Training Pool will be named either a Final Team Player or a Final Team Alternate Player. Team Head Coaches will be named after the Mini-Camp Process.

Player Evaluation Information

During the tryouts and mini camps, players are evaluated in the following areas:  Physical, Technical, Psychological, and Tactical.  Due to the large amounts of participants in the program we do not provide written evaluations for all players.  However, should you desire more information about what skills are needed to develop, contact Colin Barton or Glen Cahill directly and they will provide the feedback desired.  For your benefit, included is a regional player evaluation form as a basis for preparation for Alaska ODP events.

Ultimately players are selected based on their performance at events.  It does not matter if the player has attended ODP in the past, if their team has won state cup, or if they are the “best” player on their club team.   Top Performance is required for players to be selected into the mini-camp pool and the State Team.  To be successful at the regional and national levels players will also not be able to rely on past successes to be selected.  This performance philosophy keeps all players moving forward and focused on increasing their character, skills, fitness, and decision making.

To help minimize the costs for all players in the program, all families are encouraged to be open to accommodate another soccer player who comes to your area for the purpose of advancing their game.  When the time comes, please support this essential money saving effort. Communication will take place in advance to establish home stays for players when the ODP Mini-Camp event comes to your area.

Optional ODP Activities

Alaska ODP offers optional opportunity for player and team growth.  This year we plan to offer International Touring to Europe or Central America.  Fee for this event will be additional to the general fees.  The final budget and fee will be set at in early fall following the tryouts.   

Program Fees:

The early online registration fee is 10.00. Players selected into the Mini Camp Pool will have a one-time fee of 250.00.  If the player is selected to the State Team, additional fee will then apply for the Region IV Camp.  This fee is based on the transportation and accommodation rates next summer and will be set later in the ODP year; last year’s fee was 750 plus airfare.   

To help minimize the costs for all players in the program, all families are encouraged to be open to accommodate another soccer player who comes to your area for the purpose of advancing their game.  When the time comes, please support this essential money saving effort. Communication will take place in advance to establish home stays for players when the ODP Mini-Camp event comes to your area.

Benefits to Participating in ODP when viewed as a Long-Term Process

1. Supplement to club team experience, different for all players, for some players it is a development tool, for others it will be a maintenance, exposure, and level advancement tool.
2. High Level Coaching Experience.
3. Playing opportunity with and against high level state and regional players, "Play the Best to be the Best."
4. Regular experience and Refinement in the Advanced Tryout Process to prepare for club, HS, College, Regional, Semi-pro and Pro experiences.
5. Opportunity to make the state, regional and national teams.
6. Yearly exposure to regional and college coaches.
7. The most established road that leads to Regional, Olympic and National teams begins with state level, Alaska ODP.

Want to know what ODP players said about ODP Region IV Camp?  Have more questions about ODP? 
Take a look at the "Commonly asked ODP Questions and Answers!"

Note from Director of Coaching, F. Trovato.....

Hello players and parents, welcome to the Alaska ODP process. Mr. Glen Cahill, Boys and Mr. Colin Barton, Girls, will again serve as ODP Directors. All player selections are made by the Boys Director, Girls Director, and myself.  None of us have club ties and  eliminates any hint of favoritism or club recruitment in the ODP selection process.

I am excited about the future of Alaska ODP, Recreational Development, Competitive Development and Coaching Education. I look forward to meeting you and working together toward the achievement of even higher levels of soccer development. Have a great year and Work hard, have Fun, be Smart!