NEWS
ODP Players participate in National Camp
Two Louisiana ODP players, Rebecca Beatty 1994 and Delaney Sheehan 1995 were invited to participate in the ODP National Camp Feb. 16-20, 2011, at Veteran’s Park Soccer Complex in Pomona, Calif.
In attendance were 224 invitation-only players. A scramble format is in place with functional training, Small-Sided Games, street soccer, guest speakers and a mini round-robin tournament on the final day. The developmental camp focuses on Small-Sided Games to highlight the players individual talents.
"US Youth Soccer ODP realizes the importance of laying the groundwork for tactical and technical development of our young players," said Sam Snow, US Youth Soccer director of coaching. "It is important that the experience for the players be positive, especially in these training camp situations. What our players learn in this initial set up will set the tone for their future developmental progress."
The camp themes are interpretation and understanding the game from different perspectives and problem solving within the game. The scramble team training will focus on technical mastery under pressure, technical aspects of possession, possession as a means of penetration and how the different lines function and move the ball together.
We asked Recbecca and Delaney to share their thoughts about attending this event.
Q: What was camp like?
Rebecca: It was awesome. The speed of play there was so fast and I enjoyed playing as well as watching. Playing with girls at that high of level made you a better player and also was easier to play with thembecause they knew what they were doing and you could connect with them very well!
Delaney: The camp was fun and I learned a lot from all of the different coaches and different types of training sessions..
Q: How many girls were attending from your age group?
Rebecca: From the southern region only 16 but total girls there from 1994 were about 70 girls.
Delaney: There were somewhere between 80 and 100 girls there from my age group.
Q: What did you do every day?
Rebecca: You woke up went down to eat breakfast, then loaded the buses to go to the fields for your morning training which was two hours and for the last 45 minutes you would play against other scramble teams which had girls from all different regions. And then you would go back to the hotel and eat lunch then back out to the fields and have your second training. Then back to the hotel eat dinner, and meet with your scramble groups for an hour and then go to bed. On the last day for the second training you played against the other scramble teams.
Delaney: Every day we ate breakfast and then went to a two-hour training session where we either did technical and tactical training with our "scramble teams" (random mix of about 20 girls from all four regions) or we had functional training where you were divided up by position and worked specifically on things related to your position. Then we returned to the hotel to have lunch. We went back out to the fields in the afternoon to do scrimmages and games. At night we ate dinner and then met with our scramble teams to watch professional soccer clips and discuss formations, leadership, etc..
Q: Who were your coaches?
Rebecca: I had many different coaches throughout the camp, but for my scramble team I had the Region III coach and the Region II coach. And for the functional training it switched out with many high level coaches.
Delaney:The coaches of my "scramble team" were Lisa Cole, assistant coach of the WPS Boston Breakers and Derek Leader, one of the assistant coaches from SMU.
Q: What was your favorite part of camp?
Rebecca: My favorite part of the camp was meeting Brandi Chastain but not only getting to meet her but she played with us and always helped out with coaching and giving up tips.
Delaney: My favorite part was probably the scramble team scrimmages where we got to play against a wide variety of different people from all over the country. Also, a lot of college coaches were there watching.
Brandi Chastain was also there helping out at the training sessions and I got to meet her. One night at dinner she even came up to my table with a few other girls from Region III and we talked for about an hour.
Q: What was your least favorite part?
Rebecca: My least favorite part was the meetings at night with your scramble team.
Delaney: My least favorite part was the food, the fact that rain caused training on the last day to be canceled, and that there were multiple people of the same position on the scramble teams so all of the time during scrimmages was divided equally and I ended up only getting to play in games for about 15 minutes at a time.
Q: What did you learn that will benefit your soccer career?
Rebecca: I learned the game of soccer better and I also learned how to see it in a different view and more options. I Also learned a lot about defending that will benefit me in the game.
Delaney:I learned a lot about playing outside back which I think is probably going to be my best position when I am looking at colleges. I also learned a lot from the many experienced coaches that were there and from Brandi Chastain who was out there every day helping us.
Q: What did you learn that will benefit you personally?
Rebecca: They taught you how to act and play like a high level soccer player that will benefit me in my life.
Delaney: I met a lot of new people from all over the country. I learned that you need to be confident going into uncomfortable situations so that you can perform your best.
Q: What advice would you give other players who want to be selected to the regional pool and to the national camp?
Rebecca: That it takes hard work and you really have to strive for it. Takes a lot of training and you have to sacrifice stuff at some points. You have to believe in yourself that you can do it and you have to play with a lot of confidence because they really look for people who have confidence on and off the ball. Last, every time you go out and practice you have to give it your all and really work hard every time you step on the field.
Delaney: I would advise other players just to not be afraid to go out of their normal comfort zone. I was at first uncomfortable with making the transition from playing forward my entire life to suddenly becoming an outside back. I was hesitant at first but playing that position the best I was able ended up paying off when I made the regional pool. When you get out to events like the National Camp, even though you may not be one of the best or most technical and flashy players out there, hustling and just working your absolute hardest is always noticed by coaches. If you are the hardest working one out there, even if you aren't the best player, then that's all that you can do and you will succeed.
Anything else that you want to let other players know about this experience.
Rebecca: That it was amazing and I enjoyed it every second and to get a chance to play at that high level of soccer was awesome!
