By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
February 19, 2019-The Olympic Development Program (ODP), founded in 1977, is considered the highest level of competition in each state association. The Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) has a particularly strong ODP as Crystal Dunn and Allie Long are Eastern New York ODP graduates and Women’s World Cup champs plus our teams have won many national ODP titles.
Because of the large geographic area that Eastern New York entails, ODP is divided into North and South teams. Over a decade ago, Eastern New York ODP South played friendly games against the Long Island Junior Soccer League (LIJSL) Select Program at the Peter Collins Soccer Park in Plainview. The successor to the LIJSL Select Program is the LIJSL Player Development Program (PDP) and the friendly games were revived two years ago under the sage leadership of ODP Chairperson Jim Volpe with ODP playing PDP.
Additionally, ODP played the New York Cosmos Development Academy last year and more games between the two groups are planned for this spring.
Meanwhile Upstate, Volpe is looking to get friendly games for the ODP North teams as well.
On February 3, current Leicester City defender Christian Fuchs, who won a Premier League title with the Foxes in 2016 (at 5,000-to-1 odds), participated in an indoor training session with ODP North at the Hudson Sports Complex in Warwick. Fuchs was able to attend due to a break in the Premier League schedule.
Leicester City’s Christian Fuchs signing autographs for ODP players
The annual player cost for ODP is $800 and Volpe is looking to defray the cost for the kids by obtaining corporate sponsors. For more info about ODP sponsorships, please contact Volpe at the ENYYSA office, 516-766-0849.
With approximately 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 nine 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 Children With Special Needs. 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.