Welcome to the Arizona Olympic Development Program     
The Olympic Development Program is seeking additional coaching staff for the upcoming ODP cycle 2009 /2010 >>
DIRECTOR OF COACHING & PLAYER DEVELOPMENT Tony Colavecchia directorofcoaching@azyouthsoccer.org
VICE PRESIDENT - DEVELOPMENT Phil English vpdevelopment@azyouthsoccer.org

Tentative ODP schedule for 2009/2010   -  97, 96, 95, 94, 93 age groups

Please Contact: Chris Webb at 602-433-9202 or odp_admin@azyouthsoccer.com with any questions or concerns.
2009 ODP REGION IV CAMP TEAMS
 

Region IV Boys Camp Schedule      Region IV Girls Camp Schedule

Below is the list of Arizona players invited to attend the 1992/U17 Invitational Camp:
 
Kelli McCracken
Alex Doller
Sam Cummings
Carrie Whigham
Mackenzie Semerad
Layla Martin

Congratulations and Good Luck !!
ODP 5/17/2009ODP 5/17/2009
YOP players enjoyed a day of  soccer training  at Dessert West soccer complex.       (Click for larger image)
ODP 96 & 95 Boys & Girls

Passing to space verses passing to feet.  "Final third observations" during the Region 4 ODP Championships 2009. 

In this situation the central midfielder has 2 choices to make when passing the ball to the wide midfielder.

Most of our AZ players (96 & 95 Boys /Girls) who were in these situations had more of a tendency to play the ball to space (thru ball) resulting in the defenders having time to recover into defending positions in the penalty area.If the ball is played to the feet of the wide midfielder the ball can now be played behind the defenders early so that the attacker can run/attack  into a much bigger space between the goalkeeper and the recovering defenders. The decision to play  the ball into space  ahead of the wide midfielder is  not necessarily  wrong especially if the  player has  exceptional pace and can make up the ground and cross the ball into the box ahead of the defenders. I  noted that this was the tactical passing tendency of the two age groups in the final third of the field.

Taken from the ODP Technical report ODP Championships - Phoenix AZ 2009

By Tony Colavecchia - AYSA  Director of Coaching

.Region IV ODP Championships
The Olympic Development Program, or ODP, has been in existence in Arizona since 1977. The program was introduced to help identify potential United States National Team Youth Players through an organized series of trials which begin at the state level, and progress through the region and finally at the national level.

The program also serves as a means of identification of high-level players for Colleges and Universities and as a means to develop the higher-level players in the state. Arizona is on the cutting edge of promoting its players to Colleges and Universities. The ODP College Soccer Promotion program includes, but is not limited to the following activities:

1. Promoting individual players through our website and the Player Bio process.
2. Proactively contacting over 8,000 coaches nation-wide to promote the AZ ODP soccer community as well as directing the coaches to our website and the player information contained therein.
3. Hiring ODP coaches who have the ability and knowledge to teach players the skills that are evaluated by college coaches.

The Young Olympian Program is an in-state pre-ODP program. Eligible players were born in 1997. AZ ODP utilizes the YOP program to prepare the players and parents for the ODP program.

We are in the process of restructuring the '97 boys entry level ODP program (YOP or Young Olympians Program). The idea is to have district training in 5 geographical areas. The YOP groups will practice once a month in 5 locations. There will be no limit to the number of players in the District pools. We will form as many teams as we feel necessary per District.

The YOP program has been hugely successful over the last several years. The player's feedback has been that it is a fun but challenging experience. Those that have gone on to the ODP program feel it has helped them adjust quickly as they know what the expectations and standards are going to be.
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