My 12 year old nephew is pretty good and has a dream of becoming a professional player. He plays on a travel team that goes around the state (Florida), and his coach is pushing him to join an ODP program.

Setting aside the likelihood of it occurring, etc:
What is the best path for him? ODP, MLS academy, high school to college? Something else I'm not familiar with?

As a side note, his dad is English so he has dual citizenship.

ODP isn't what it used to be. MLS next if staying here but best bet is to move back to England and get hooked up with an academy there.
No reason for thumb down. Misfire.

MLSNext is trying to fill the DA hole. ECNL is pretty competitive, too. ODP is not a pathway to professional soccer. Neither is HS to College, generally speaking. If he is playing in Florida, he should have ample opportunities to develop through the club system, assuming he is near enough to train and play with the more competitive teams. If he can move to England and develop with an academy there, that's a big opportunity.

380Ag said:

---

ODP isn't what it used to be. MLS next if staying here but best bet is to move back to England and get hooked up with an academy there.
No reason for thumb down. Misfire.

---

Yeah, that was my first thought regarding ODP vs MLS Next.

Moving to England is almost certainly not happening. Born there (American mom), but the family is well established here.

Quote:

---

MLS next if staying here but best bet is to move back to England and get hooked up with an academy there.

---

This is the answer. Club soccer is dying thing if the goal is to get to the professional level

Agree with 380Ag, best path for him is to try to get into an acadmy there and see if he gets a pro contract through that avenue.

LeonardSkinner said:

---

380Ag said:

---

ODP isn't what it used to be. MLS next if staying here but best bet is to move back to England and get hooked up with an academy there.
No reason for thumb down. Misfire.

---

Yeah, that was my first thought regarding ODP vs MLS Next.

Moving to England is almost certainly not happening. Born there (American mom), but the family is well established here.

---

No relatives he can stay with, even to do trials?

MLS next for sure. Some USL teams have good youth development programs as well.

I guess I'd ask what pretty good means too. Is he the best player on the pitch every game he's in? Or is he a good player on a team full of good players. Kids at that age who are looking to take the next step and try to get a pro contract are going to be truly outstanding.

Honestly, I feel like I'm overly critical of him and his team, so take it with a grain of salt.

His team is not great. Still developing physically, and their skills are okay. Like a kid wearing an adult's clothes, they are too lacking in size, strength, and skill to fit on the full-size pitch they play on.

Maybe rose-colored glasses, but the team I played on at that age would have demolished his team, and most of their competition.

He's playing up slightly for his age, and is a little stronger than his teammates currently. He's scored a few goals from free kicks outside the penalty area. He idolizes the great players, and (I feel) tries too hard to emulate them. I feel like he'd be better suited for a more attacking role, but the coaches tend to put him in a central midfield position because they have nobody else that would do well there. Edit to add: in short, probably the best overall player on his team.

Fun fact… two of the guys I played with on that U13 team (and on a state championship team in our senior year of HS) are the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of the local MLS Next affiliate program.

Sister in law used the word "National," so who knows… But allegedly, his current club is going to play NAL(?) next season, so apparently they would play that MLS Next team, among others.

I gathered that, if he doesn't start getting recruited by 16U, they'll think about moving him.

My first instinct was to roll my eyes at my wife while she was on the phone with her sister, but we know very well that they're going to do what they want to do, regardless of our advice.

My nephew's backup dream is to be a barber. I should get him some scissors and a electric trimmer for Christmas.

akm91 said:

---

LeonardSkinner said:

---

380Ag said:

---

ODP isn't what it used to be. MLS next if staying here but best bet is to move back to England and get hooked up with an academy there.
No reason for thumb down. Misfire.

---

Yeah, that was my first thought regarding ODP vs MLS Next.

Moving to England is almost certainly not happening. Born there (American mom), but the family is well established here.

---

No relatives he can stay with, even to do trials?

---

Elderly, ailing grandparents.

Interesting tidbit there at the end.

Yeah, it's tough. You don't want to be unreasonable with kids but you also don't want to squash their dreams either. And if he's not playing against top competition it's even tougher to really know how he stacks up. Finding an MLS Next/USL club that'll let him come out and train with them for a couple sessions might be just the type of measuring stick or challenge he needs at this point. Some advertise open tryout sessions and others are invite only, so finding an in is sometimes difficult.

jeffk said:

---

I guess I'd ask what pretty good means too. Is he the best player on the pitch every game he's in? Or is he a good player on a team full of good players. Kids at that age who are looking to take the next step and try to get a pro contract are going to be truly outstanding.

---

Great question.. Also, what do you mean by professional player? If he's a very good player and can pick up languages there are more options. Does he love the game so much he's willing to globe trot, sacrifice and grind? there are a lot of questions.

LeonardSkinner said:

---

Honestly, I feel like I'm overly critical of him and his team, so take it with a grain of salt.

His team is not great. Still developing physically, and their skills are okay. Like a kid wearing an adult's clothes, they are too lacking in size, strength, and skill to fit on the full-size pitch they play on.

Maybe rose-colored glasses, but the team I played on at that age would have demolished his team, and most of their competition.

He's playing up slightly for his age, and is a little stronger than his teammates currently. He's scored a few goals from free kicks outside the penalty area. He idolizes the great players, and (I feel) tries too hard to emulate them. I feel like he'd be better suited for a more attacking role, but the coaches tend to put him in a central midfield position because they have nobody else that would do well there. Edit to add: in short, probably the best overall player on his team.

Fun fact… two of the guys I played with on that U13 team (and on a state championship team in our senior year of HS) are the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of the local MLS Next affiliate program.

---

I would also not be too stressed about positions at this age either, to an extent. Any teams scouts will be looking at how he actually plays/trains and can project that to other positions.

He says professional soccer player, so whatever he defines it as. For the sake of this discussion, call it MLS starter.

PatAg said:

---

LeonardSkinner said:

---

Honestly, I feel like I'm overly critical of him and his team, so take it with a grain of salt.

His team is not great. Still developing physically, and their skills are okay. Like a kid wearing an adult's clothes, they are too lacking in size, strength, and skill to fit on the full-size pitch they play on.

Maybe rose-colored glasses, but the team I played on at that age would have demolished his team, and most of their competition.

He's playing up slightly for his age, and is a little stronger than his teammates currently. He's scored a few goals from free kicks outside the penalty area. He idolizes the great players, and (I feel) tries too hard to emulate them. I feel like he'd be better suited for a more attacking role, but the coaches tend to put him in a central midfield position because they have nobody else that would do well there. Edit to add: in short, probably the best overall player on his team.

Fun fact… two of the guys I played with on that U13 team (and on a state championship team in our senior year of HS) are the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of the local MLS Next affiliate program.

---

I would also not be too stressed about positions at this age either, to an extent. Any teams scouts will be looking at how he actually plays/trains and can project that to other positions.

---

Isn't that what I'm doing, lol? I do know that in the past he's been put at a sweeper/center back position because of his overall athleticism, and he freaked out about it.

I'm going to coach jv girls this season and plan on moving them all around to play all sorts of different roles and strategies.

ODP Teams are basically just all-star teams that play a few times a year together, but still cost a good amount of money to participate for probably 3 tournament weekends. Certain states are much better organized than others. Florida has a pretty good organization. My daughter plays with the Florida ODP, but it is more just for fun and to get to meet other top girls around the state. But by no means can ODP replace a good club/academy.

Re-Reading thread. If they are serious about him playing competitively and even thinking about a professional career, they need to get him on a MLS Next or ECNL club as soon as possible. And with that may need to look at some type of additional training like beastmode or other local coaching center that focuses on certain footskills and other training.

Soccer is the one sport where it seems you can really get left behind and is very hard to catch back up as they get older unless they have very freakish athletic ability.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with all of you.

But the in-laws have a strange mix of stubbornness and contrariness, a penchant for throwing good money after bad, with a hint of loyalty (to their social group); and my BIL is an Englishman who played football as a lad, and because of that, isn't always open to other opinions about his son's play.

I could reach out to my old teammates at the academy, but my wife is saying not to waste my time and any credibility I might have with them (which honestly, is probably about zero anyway, since I haven't spoken to them in over ten years).