Pg , 2001, and 2002 Girls ODP State Teams. Alabama Soccer Association

Transcription

1 Pg , 2001, and 2002 Girls ODP State Teams Alabama Soccer Association

2 Pg. 02 Contents Introduction Regional Trials 7 Alabama Selections for 2017 Region Trials: 10 How Do I Get Involved? 13 Trials Summary 14 Contact Information 15 Organization Information 15

3 Pg. 03 one hundred and thirty-six region pool players [in the last three years.] Introduction THANK YOU FROM TECHNICIAL DIRECTOR ZAC CRAWFORD Dear players, parents, coaches, and other supporters and friends, Thank you all so much for your support during this past ODP Seasonal Year. For the fourth year in a row, we have once again broken state records for the number of players placed into the Region III pool. This is a testament to the passion and hard work of many people; it also shows that ODP is alive and well and we can achieve great results right here in Alabama. While setting records is fantastic, we would rather continue to strive for excellence. It was a long year for Alabama ODP as we began in September and hosted over 10 events statewide. We hosted events from Huntsville to Mobile, took two teams on an international trip to Spain in March, and played against teams from Region II in Memphis in February. Alabama Elite, an extension of ODP, was rekindled in the spring to give players an opportunity to continue within the ODP system and style of play and an option to play a different level of soccer than high school. AL Elite also participated in the Memphis Inter-Regional, as well as the boys traveling to Virginia to participate in the ODP Friendlies. Over 75 players participated in four different locations (Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Daphne), and were able to consistently train with AL ODP state and Region III staff coaches. While it is the goal of all of our players to make the Region Team, it s the same for coaches. For the past two years, I have been asked to be the 2002 Boys Region III Team assistant Coach; I was also asked to work as a Region Staff Coach for the Girls side and was one of only two coaches that was asked to do work for both camps and the only state technical director. I was able to do all of this and complete the final two weekends of a yoga teacher training program because we have a great staff that is passionate about achieving our mission. I was able to keep up with our teams and really enjoyed being around all of our children, coaches, and admin staff. I particularly enjoyed spending time with our 02 Girls second team. Coach Rozi Osman helped take the lead, but we had a few players from Alabama Elite and the Spain trip that were able to come to Montevallo and measure their best against some very good competition. I enjoyed being able to step in and help the ladies believe in themselves to claw back in the 2 nd half against a great South Texas team. Overall, our 2002 girls did quite well and even won the 7v7 tournament at the end led by Coach Emma Greenwood.

4 Pg. 04 I also enjoyed the last week of camp for both genders, as the 2000 boys placed 10 players into the Region Pool and were rated the 2 nd best team at camp. Our 2000 Girls set a new record for placing 8 players into the Region Pool. The fact that we were tied with FL for putting 18 players into the pool, and only one player behind GA (19) shows everyone that if you stick with the program here in AL, you will most certainly have an opportunity to prove yourself as the age groups get older. A personal highlight is from our 2000 girls players, Gabby Walker, Lexi Duca, and Grace McClellan making the Region Pool. After many years of participating in the state pool process, Gabby has never made the state team until this year, yet she persevered. Lexie has been a mainstay on the most successful state team, yet was never able to crack into a Region Pool training/match until this year. She got her chance and earned her place. Another player, Grace McClellan was cut from the state team her first year and took it as a challenge. She worked on her game and came back to be an alternate the next year. She then made the state team, participated in Alabama Elite, and finally the region pool last year. She was the starting keeper for the Region III team on in international trip and now is working her way to the next level in college. Their continued effort through the struggle is inspirational to me, and I hope it is the same for all of our players out there. On the other end, for the youngest side, we set another new state record on Day 4 of the Region Trials with placing 36 players into region pool matches on one day. There were 24 players from the 04 and 05 age groups as well as 11 from the 2000s that were able to showcase their abilities at the top level. In all age groups, Alabama represented at unprecedented levels. Pictured 2000 Girls Region Pool Members Grace McClellan, Technical Director Zac Crawford, Gabby Walker, and Lexi Duca

5 Pg. 05 Overall, I am very grateful to be able to lead such an outstanding program. ODP is alive and well; it still has a place in the spectrum of player development, and Alabama is helping prove this to be true. I m so grateful to entire staff, especially Katie Steinert and Stefan Casale for their leadership at all of the camps. Thank you to Martha Disko for handling all of the administrative duties in the office. Rob Dominguez, who was instrumental in getting the year started off proper was also a huge help. Without the great support of the staff and parents, we would not have a successful program. Thank you for your continued support and I hope to see you all on the journey again this next year when we start in November. Sincerely, Zac Crawford, ASA Technical Director

6 Pg. 06 Player Highlights This year, Alabama is proud to have set another new state record FIFTY-four players into the Region III Pool for the ODP season. Last year for the year, Alabama placed a 44 players into the RIII pool and in the placed a record 38 players into the RIII Pool. Overall during the past three years, Alabama has developed a total of one hundred and thirty-six region pool players and three national pool players. A new record was also set with two boys teams (2002s and 2000s) placing 10 boys placed into the RIII Pool and 8 girls placed into the 2000 RIII Pool. Staff Highlights This year saw the growth and development of a number of new staff members. For all events, AL ODP had a total of over seventy different staff members learning from the USSF/ODP curriculum and how to teach possession soccer. We incorporated coaches from both the USYS club system and all tiers of collegiate coaching. We had eight Alabama coaches participate on Region III Coaching Staff. Manny Sanchez, Colin Barnes (AL Elite), Kevin Laux, Matty Thorne (UWA), Graeme Orr (UWA), Allison Whitworth (Spring Hill), and Oleg Sinelnikov (AL Elite). Technical Director Zac Crawford is the 1 st assistant for the 2002 Region III Boys team and was one of only two coaches that was selected for Region Staff for both the girls and boys camps. Performance Highlights Alabama teams dominated at region trials. The talk of the boys camp was that Alabama had 5 teams in the 04/05 age groups. While we focus on developing individuals and teams according to the ODP philosophy, we are proud of how well our teams performed against the other states of the region. Nearly all games played by Alabama teams were close in score, or won with great success. While some of our teams struggled in performance, the learning opportunities were magnificent and it s great that our players can get this opportunity right here in Alabama.

7 Pg Regional Trials During three weeks in July, Alabama becomes the center for the South East s elite youth soccer world as twelve different state associations descend on Alabama for ODP Region Trials. The University of Montevallo hosted the girl s event, while the University of Alabama hosted the boys. Alabama sent nearly 400 (up from 300 last year) players to camp between the birth-years of In total, Alabama contributed twenty-four (up from seventeen) teams to RIII s trials this year. All Alabama teams had full rosters and even contributed to teams they played against in order to help them fill their rosters for matches. Second teams and third teams were formed in numerous age groups and Alabama was one of only two states capable of bringing 05 players to the experience. Alabama ODP has focused on educating and developing players according to the RIII and US Soccer playing style. In ODP, we focus on the system and teach possession soccer. Due to this adherence to the curriculum and focused effort from both the staff and players, great strides have been made in the past four seasons for Alabama ODP. For the third year in a row, even our second-team players are attracting the attention of the region staff coaches. The theme for Region Trials focused on two different areas: For the oldest teams, RIII turned its attention to the final third and creating penetrating runs from the midfield. However, our younger teams who are just entering the system focused on building out of the back. Both of these themes were underlined by the importance of the ten principles of possession, which we work to teach our teams during our training phases leading up to region trials. Alabama s Success: The efforts of everyone in the state are at the foundation for why Alabama s players have been successful at region trials these past several years. A visible shift is occurring in Alabama youth soccer that is growing the game and re-focusing the attention from wins-and-losses to pushing our players to be better. Alabama has been a small bubble in the world of youth soccer, but with the efforts of our clubs DOCs, technical directors, executive directors, boards, parents, and players, heads are starting to turn. Rankings for 2017 Region Trials: While Alabama is one of the smaller states in regards to player population (just broke the 25,000 mark---another new state record), it has not stopped us from working towards our potential and in placing players into the Region III pool. We ranked 4 th in regards to total

8 Pg. 08 number of players in the Region III pool and the numbers in the oldest age groups show that the program is still viable for those that continue on in the journey. Boys State Totals Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina North Texas Oklahoma South Carolina South Texas Tennessee Girls State Total Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Louisianna Mississippi North 6 Carolina North Texas Oklahoma South 3 Carolina South Texas Tennessee

9 Pg. 09 Overall State Totals Florida Georgia South Texas North Carolina Alabama South Carolina Tennessee Louisianna Oklahoma North Texas Mississippi Arkansas As one of the smallest states in regards to total player population, Alabama is extremely proud to rank 5 th overall in Region III for the total number of players produced into the Region Pool. Florida and South Texas have well over 100,000 players for each association, while North Carolina and Georgia each have over 80,000 players. Alabama set a new state record this year with 25,000 registered players state-wide.

10 Pg. 10 Boys Alabama Selections for 2017 Region Trials: Gender Age Group Region Level Last name First Name boys 2000 Player Pool Hemstreet Mason boys 2000 Player Pool Holstad Clay boys 2000 Player Pool Horst Luke boys 2000 Player Pool LaBlanc Kelan boys 2000 Player Pool Murray Issac boys 2000 Player Pool Palanjain Alec boys 2000 Player Pool Rice David boys 2000 Player Pool Rogers Stephen boys 2000 Player Pool Tunagur Selim boys 2000 Player Pool York Nickolas boys 2001 Player Pool Krajna Ian boys 2001 Player Pool Ramirez Mikhail boys 2002 Player Pool Carlson Neal boys 2002 Player Pool Carr Salia boys 2002 Player Pool Cleary Aiden boys 2002 Player Pool Devanier Kameron boys 2002 Player Pool Fisher Justin

11 Pg. 11 boys 2002 Player Pool Herrera Erasmo boys 2002 Player Pool Jowers Jacob boys 2002 Player Pool Loftis Jack boys 2002 Player Pool Shaw Anthony boys 2002 Player Pool Toledo Kenneth boys 2003 Player Pool Francis Braelen boys 2003 Player Pool Kutsch Daniel boys 2003 Player Pool Laury Tahir boys 2003 Player Pool Reed Charles boys 2003 Player Pool Ubogo Oghenekome boys 2004 Player Pool DeFelippo Anthony boys 2004 Player Pool Figueroa Luis boys 2004 Player Pool Guidroz John-Michael boys 2004 Player Pool Rizzo Lucas boys 2004 Player Pool Russo Gabriel boys 2004 Player Pool Thomason Andrew boys 2004 Player Pool Tozzi Nathan

12 Pg. 12 Girls Alabama Selections for 2017 Region Trials: State Gender Age Group Region level Last name First Name AL girls 2000 Player Pool Duca Alexandria AL girls 2000 Player Pool Hanson Avery AL girls 2000 Player Pool Jacobs Abigail AL girls 2000 Player Pool McClellan Elizabeth AL girls 2000 Player Pool McFadden Logan AL girls 2000 Player Pool Walker Gabriella AL girls 2000 Player Pool Whited Kileigh AL girls 2000 Player Pool Whittaker Hailey AL girls 2001 Honorable Mention Baggett Catherine AL girls 2001 Player Pool Katz Tara AL girls 2001 Player Pool Klingel Katey AL girls 2002 Player Pool Bastian Hailey AL girls 2003 Player Pool Duca Haley AL girls 2003 Honorable Mention Waggoner Reagan AL girls 2004 Player Pool Lee Zoey AL girls 2004 Player Pool Smith Isabel AL girls 2005 All stars Ahlemeyer Tatum AL girls 2005 All stars Capili Paula AL girls 2005 All stars Goering Ellemae AL girls 2005 All stars Miller Mariana

13 Pg. 13 How Do I Get Involved? If you are interested in participating for the upcoming year, the following birth years will be eligible for both boys and girls There is a pre-odp program called the Elite Player Development Program which is for 9-12 year olds and is used as a training/scouting system for players born in 2004, 2005, 2006, & Interested players born between should talk to their club DOCs about whether or not ODP is a good fit for the player and vice-versa. The program will start back again in November. Open Tryouts will occur in November and December. The average cost for a year of ODP training, including the Region Trials Camp, is ~$1300. Scholarships are available based on need and ability. All State Team players will be automatically placed back into the State Pool and will not have to attend tryouts, but are encouraged to attend. There will no longer be a recommendation system, but all new players will have to attend open-tryouts, or be scouted at an Region Premier League event. Please visit for more information visit our Facebook page to view more photos

14 Pg. 14 Trials Summary Alabama has a lot to be proud of. From the perspective of many, this state has come a tremendous distance in a short period of time. However, it s clear that both players and staff are not comfortable with simply being outliers in the sense of these past few years being an exception to Alabama s typical performance at region trials. The buy-in from players, parents, and staff has been the turning point in making Alabama a serious contender for contributing players to the RIII pool and beyond. Everyone involved is not complacent with occasionally performing well; instead, everyone involved is focused on creating and maintaining a new norm for Alabama as a major player in RIII and throughout the country. AL ODP is dedicated to creating a sustainable and consistent program that challenges, develops, and succeeds against the top players and associations throughout the region and country. With that, we thank everyone involved in ODP this year without those of you reading this, our journey would not have been possible. For those that were successful and earned a spot in the region pool, congratulations! For those that did not reach their goals or achieve as highly as they had hoped, we are here to help you and work with you to reach those goals. We are committed to help every player in the program be the very best he or she can be. We are committed to be patient educators that inspire players to love the game as we do. We are committed to put in the time and effort to help you achieve your soccer goals. Are you? Zac Crawford ASA Technical Director August 10, 2017

15 Pg. 15 Contact Information Zac Crawford State Technical Director Tel Organization Information Alabama Soccer Association 4678 Valleydale Rd # 200, Birmingham, AL Tel (205)