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Alabama Soccer Association

2000, 2001, and 2002 Girls ODP State Teams

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Contents

Introduction ___________________________________________________________________ 3-5

2017 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

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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 2nd 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.

“one hundred

and thirty-six

region pool

players [in the last

three years.]”

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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 2nd 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

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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

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Player Highlights

This year, Alabama is proud to have set another new state record FIFTY-four players into the

Region III Pool for the 2016-2017 ODP season. Last year for the 2015-2016 year, Alabama

placed a 44 players into the RIII pool and in the 14-15 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

1st 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.

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2017 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 00-05. 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 1-4-3-3 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 4th in regards to total

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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 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 State Totals

Alabama 10 2 10 5 7 34

Arkansas 0 0 1 0 0 1

Florida 8 9 9 13 15 54

Georgia 12 8 6 8 8 42

Louisiana 1 9 1 4 9 24

Mississippi 1 0 1 1 6 9 North Carolina 5 4 4 2 4 19

North Texas 0 3 3 2 2 10

Oklahoma 0 0 4 9 9 22 South Carolina 10 8 7 6 3 34

South Texas 9 10 6 3 11 39

Tennessee 3 8 8 7 6 32

Girls 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 State Total

Alabama 8 3 1 2 2 4 20

Arkansas 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Florida 10 12 13 23 15 0 73

Georgia 7 9 12 2 5 4 39

Louisianna 3 4 1 3 1 3 15

Mississippi 0 1 0 0 0 1 2

North Carolina 6 7 11

6 9 0 39

North Texas 0 1 0 2 0 2 5

Oklahoma 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 South Carolina 1 1 6

3 3 0 14

South Texas 5 5 4 5 4 9 32

Tennessee 2 7 2 2 1 0 14

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Overall 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

State Totals

Florida 18 21 22 36 30 0 127

Georgia 19 17 18 10 13 4 81

South Texas 14 15 10 8 15 9 71

North Carolina 11 11 15 8 13 0 58

Alabama 18 5 11 7 9 4 54

South Carolina 11 9 13 9 6 0 48

Tennessee 5 15 10 9 7 0 46

Louisianna 4 13 2 7 10 3 39

Oklahoma 0 0 4 10 9 0 23

North Texas 0 4 3 4 2 2 15

Mississippi 1 1 1 1 6 1 11

Arkansas 0 0 1 1 0 0 2

As one of the smallest states in regards to total player population, Alabama is extremely proud

to rank 5th 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.

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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

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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

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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

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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 2001-2005. 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, & 2007.

Interested players born between 2001-2004 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 http://www.alsoccer.org/odp/ for more information visit our Facebook page to view

more photos https://www.facebook.com/alabamayouthsoccer.

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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

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Contact Information

Zac Crawford

State Technical Director

Tel 250-991-9779

zac@alsoccer.org

Organization Information Alabama Soccer Association

4678 Valleydale Rd # 200, Birmingham, AL 35242

Tel (205) 991-9779

www.alsoccer.org