I had a fantastic time playing with my Olympic Development Program team this year. It was a really unique and new experience for me, playing at such a high level, being with players from different teams all around NorCal, and traveling with the team.
The Olympic Development Program is a process of identifying players to represent the State in Camps and events, with those further identified being selected for National Camps
Although I went into tryouts and games feeling a little nervous, it was easy to settle in and get comfortable playing with welcoming teammates and coaches. One of the biggest challenges was adapting to the quicker and more physical game at that level, and it was pretty frightening at first.
ODP is a collection of identified players from across Northern and Central California, coming together to represent the State.
However, playing soccer with Fremont YSC for over 7 years, working our way through the bronze bracket to state premier as a team allowed me to keep up with and perform even at such a high level of play and the pressure that comes with adapting to it. Being in a competitive environment within the club and the training and support provided by coach Gavin and other coaches really helped me stay driven, compete, and perform well during the tryouts. In addition to bringing the skills I had learned and developed over the years to the team, I felt it was a great experience to see how different players play, and I was able to experience new playing styles and formations.
An ODP team is a collection of players. This underpins the importance of the individuals development and not the team, As we highlight in our Parent Workshops, it’s the individuals journey, and Johan Cruyffs important quote about the individual learning, teams don’t learn, it’s the individual within the team.
In addition to playing with other State ODP Teams in Oregon, there were also friendly scrimmages with other teams such as Sacramento Republic during practices. These scrimmages gave everyone in the player pool an opportunity to show their talent and ability, and play with the team even if they aren’t on the travel roster. One of my favorite things about the program is how we hung out a lot even outside the games as a team during the trip. I really enjoyed being a part of Cal North ODP and I look forward to continuing trying out and staying with the program in the future!
The clubs commitment and vision is to supporting the foundations needed, game intelligence, and creativity, to give players the chance and opportunity to work towards representing the State in these programs. A winning team or a playing bracket does not get selected for these higher level programs, nor do they prepare you for the occasion. It is the individuals dedication, commitment, and desire to learn, in a learning environment. Early burnout sees too many young athletes not make to these more important ages of sports performance. Barghav is a great example of the importance of fun, age appropriate environments, and process focused coaching, to support the individual player.
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