ODP boys action
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
July 2, 2015-The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) is very pleased to announce that two of our Olympic Development Program (ODP) teams won Regionals. Both teams will be playing for the national championship next winter.
“We are very excited that two teams are going to Nationals but also that we had a very high standard of play throughout the two tournaments,” commented Eastern New York’s ODP Chairperson Jim Volpe. “All our teams used the same formation, a 4-3-3, and emphasized possession and building from the back.”
During the first round at Rider College in Lawrenceville, New Jersey on June 6 and 7 and the semifinals and finals in Kirkwood, Delaware on June 20 and 21, both the 1999 ODP Boys South team and 2000 ODP Girls South team went 5-0-0 to win the Regionals. The 1999 Boys South team is coached by Ralph Pascarella, assisted by Graham Radcliffe, while the 2000 Girls South squad is coached by Jaime Gonzalez, Brooke DeRosa and Gary Book.
Additionally, the 2000 ODP Boys South team finished 3-2-0, losing in the Regional finals to Virginia, 3-0, and the 1998 ODP Boys South team finished 2-2-0, losing in the semifinals to Massachusetts, 4-3. With such a large geographic area to cover from Long Island to the Canadian border, Eastern New York’s ODP teams are split and 10 ODP teams from the South and nine ODP teams from the North entered the competition at Rider College.
ODP is considered the highest level of competition in the state. Each year, players must be evaluated by the ODP professional staff of coaches for a position on each age-specific team. The identification process ends each summer with the most elite players within Region 1 competing for a position on the regional team. Players are then identified by United States Soccer Federation (USSF) staff coaches for possible entry to the national teams program.
With over 100,000 youth soccer players––both boys and girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.