At it’s meeting on January 18, 2012, the VYSA Board of Directors approved a policy on payment of ODP program and event fees.  All ODP players and their families are urged to read this policy and understand that there are new deadlines that must be met in order to participate in the ODP.  Click here for a copy of that policy.

Boys State Pool Selection List

http://www.vysa.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp::49240+L3/Display+E+ODP+108827+485654

Girls State Pool Selection List

http://www.vysa.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2:gp::49240+L3/Display+E+ODP+108827+485655

Please note that the call back players are invited to attend the second training session on December 17 for another evaluation.

The remainder of the District Continuation Training Sessions have been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

There seems to be some confusion about the registration/tryout fee for the District ODP.  The registration fee for the tryouts held in late summer was $40.00 if you registered online and $60.00 if you registered onsite or came into the pool at a later time.  This is a one time fee per year per player.  This information was on our website with the tryout information from mid June until the end of July.  This should clarify why you are getting statements in the mail for this fee.

Congratulations to the following VYSA ODP boys and girls players who were selected to Region I ODP Pools in the 94, 95, 96, 97, and 98 age groups.

The VYSA’s Olympic Development Program has a designated four districts and one satellite district. The initial player identification stage begins with the District tryouts.  A District Pool of players is selected from the District tryouts by our high level coaching staff.  The District tryout registration fee is $40 online or $60 at the tryout site.  The registration link is taken down 7 days before the tryouts so registering online saves you $20.  Once started the District Pools will have ten training sessions.  Players can also be added to the district pool, at any time, through the scouting of games. The district training sessions are generally held on a Friday night or weekend day so as to minimize conflicts with other soccer activities the players may have.  This year the fee for the District ODP is $285.00.

The last two training sessions in the District Pool are called the InterDistrict Scrimmages. These events are held either in Williamsburg or Richmond on two separate weekends.  From these scrimmages the State Pool is selected by the State Coaching Staff.  On the first weekend, the districts will compete against each other. On the second weekend, the players will be mixed up or scrambled into different teams in order to compete against each other. Once selected, the state pools will have a minimum ten training sessions and a variety of events. The State Pool training fee this year is $295.00.  Not every state pool player goes to every event.  The teams are picked by the State Coaches but all players will participate at some time during the season.  The events start in January with the North Carolina Friendlies, in February there is the Virginia Friendlies; we have an international trip in the March/April timeframe for two age groups.  In June there is the Region I Tournament and in July the Region I camps are held.  All events are priced separately and the budget is based on costs such as transportations, hotels, meals, coaches, etc.  They generally range anywhere from $225 up to $395 per event.  We try to keep the costs as low as possible for the players.  The cost of camp can range from around $500 to $700.

There is financial aid available for those families that may need assistance. 

The Virginia 1993 boys ODP team captured the Region I crown for the second time in 3 straight years. In the championship final round, held in Kirkwood, Delaware, they beat NJ 3-1 in the semis and PA-west 1-0. Eric Bird, Kyler Sullivan, Marcus Luster and Luis Rendon led this U17 state select team through this very difficult and challenging region wide event. A large number of college coaches were on hand for future player identification.

However, all eyes were on the boy’s 1995 age group as, for the first time in history, two teams from the same state met in the finals of the prestigious Region I ODP Tournament. In the 1995 (U15) boys age group Virginia-1 played Virginia-2 to a 3-1 victory in the championship game.

Virginia-1 breezed through the group stage in commanding fashion dispatching Eastern NY-north 4-0, Eastern PA 1-0, and NY-west 5-1. They then went on to defeat Massachusetts in the semis 3-1 before encountering the other Virginia squad. Virginia-2 beat Vermont 3-0, Connecticut 3-1, and NJ 2-1 in the group stage. They then defeated Eastern NY-south 3-1 in the semis. Before succumbing to VA-1 (VA-2 scored first) in the finals.

It speaks volumes to the level of talent that the 1995 age group has when two teams from our own same state can meet in the tournament finals. This group of talented boys has placed 17 players in last year’s regional pool team while also having the benefit of traveling twice to Italy with the Region team They also got the added benefit of playing games in the Czech Republic and Spain and Portugal with the VYSA.

A great deal of credit has to go to the clubs where these boys come from and subsequently spend the majority of their time. However, a major tip of the hat must also go to ODP head coach Matt Badiee who has molded and developed these 2 teams over the last few years. Through good player identification and solid training he was able to get the best out of them to a point where history has been made.

Alexandra Connell: Student Athlete of the Year (Girls 8-13)

Congratulations Alexandra.

The VYSA boys and girls 1995 and 1996 ODP teams just recently returned from a successful international trip to Spain and Portugal. Please click on the following link to follow their daily journey.     http://vaodpspain2010.ning.com/