PDP in Russellville

[sssuperpantherfan2]

Anyone else going to the PDP in Russellville this weekend?

[pantherdad]

We are; if this rain doesn't completely cancel it.

[sssuperpantherfan2]

Good deal!  Hope the rain clears out!

[sssuperpantherfan2]

This session was canceled, postponed till January 5th, hopefully better weather prevails.

[sssuperpantherfan2]

Another Elite player PDP event February 10th!

http://www.arkansasvalleysoccer.org/apcpdp.html

[Puddle Jumper]

Is the pdp available to any player that wants to attend or just the players/clubs that are associated with the APC?

[pantherdad]

Just for selected players from APC teams

[Brownclown]

Is the pdp available to any player that wants to attend or just the players/clubs that are associated with the APC?

I heard there were a few players from non APC clubs at the January date.

[pantherdad]

I assume the players that weren't associated with an APC team were invited?

[Brownclown]

I assume the players that weren't associated with an APC team were invited?

That's my understanding?  Not sure about the hows and whys.

[Arkiesoccer]

With no ODP being offered by the ASSA this year I could see some of the Lakewood players possibly reaching out to see if they could attend. There are also a couple of clubs that are members of the APC that did not participate in the fall APL season.

[sssuperpantherfan2]

I'd like to see Select players from all over be able to participate. The colleges at these camps are looking for quality players to fill their rosters and I'd like to see them pick up as many in state kids as they can.

[Arkiesoccer]

Agree that all should have the opportunity as it would be nice to see more homegrown kids playing for the in state schools.  The path to getting better is to surround yourself with better talent and to be challenged in training.

If someone wants to play at a high level in college, I'm not sure there is a club/league/assoc in Arkansas that has the complete foundation to help those players obtain those goals (probably for another thread).  There are several good clubs that have excellent coaching and although NPL play affords you better competition, the larger state schools are littered with players from DA/ECNL teams.  The few AR players that have made it to D1/D2 level have probably done so by taking a completely alternative route (ie the girl from Rogers that started for Purdue as a freshman this year only played HS soccer her freshman and senior year so she could play with Tulsa ECNL during 10th/11th grade).

Just for grins I looked at the in-state (women's) college rosters to see how many Arkansans were listed

From AR Total Roster UA 1 23 UALR 0 25 UAPB 0 15 UCA 3 24 ASU 3 28 OBU 4 29 Harding 7 23 Total D1/D2 18 167 Lyon 5 17 WBU 14 17 JBU 3 24 Ozarks 10 31 CBC 3 24 D3/NAIA 35 113

[pantherdad]

Yes, I've spent too much time looking at the low numbers of Arkansas players on the rosters of the local colleges. It's very disappointing; I'm lucky enough that one of those is my kid. However, watching her college team play, there isn't much separation between the ECNL/DA player and the local Arkansas talent. It's an unfortunate bias that the colleges are buying into that ECNL/DA players are better than Arkansas girls.

The big issue for an Arkansas player is numbers; i.e. a college coach can go watch one ECNL/DA match in Dallas or Atlanta and see a dozen D1 talent, while there might only be a few players to watch at a local game. There's probably more female U17 (just randomly picking an age group) girls playing soccer in Dallas than all age groups combined in Arkansas.

[AuburnTigers98]

Some of the best female players in the state can't make it to PDP. They will be at a college showcase in Memphis. Many of them have chosen not to play with their school teams this season. They are staying with their club team (Real Arkansas) to be able to play at a more competitive level than school games can provide.

[pantherdad]

While so totally understand the reasoning behind not participating in high school, I'd argue look at the roster of any high level D1; 99% of the girls play high school. Arkansas' delima is the lack of ECNL teams

[Ranger20]

I could be wrong but I think if AAA would permit these kids to play both club & HS, like other states do, it would significantly help player development and foster a stronger soccer culture. Frankly, I really don't understand why they've made such a rule. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[VHSCoach2]

I could be wrong but I think if AAA would permit these kids to play both club & HS, like other states do, it would significantly help player development and foster a stronger soccer culture. Frankly, I really don't understand why they've made such a rule. 🤷🏻‍♂️

AAA doesn't even understand why they make rules the way they do.

If it's not related to football, they honestly just slap some stuff on paper and say it looks good.

[VHSCoach2]

Some of the best female players in the state can't make it to PDP. They will be at a college showcase in Memphis. Many of them have chosen not to play with their school teams this season. They are staying with their club team (Real Arkansas) to be able to play at a more competitive level than school games can provide.

Shocker there. 

[AuburnTigers98]

Shocker there. 

??

[Ranger20]

"AAA doesn't even understand why they make rules the way they do."
———————————————————————————————————-

I guess even good folks sometimes take longer to see. My wife's grandparents didn't start using their indoor plumbing until the early 80s. For some reason, they just preferred the outhouse! 😂

[pantherdad]

I always thought that the ban on participating on non-school teams during the soccer season was only in Arkansas. So I just checked a few states, there are several that have the same rule as Arkansas; Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana & Kansas (with some exceptions), Louisiana, Missouri, South Dakota: I got tired of looking. So I guess we're not the only ones!

But I know that the large states like Texas, California, Florida, Oklahoma all allow for playing both.

[Arkiesoccer]

The AAA rule probably impacts baseball and softball the most within the state.  The rule not only prohibits playing games with a non-HS organization during the season but it also prohibits organized practices with the club/travel team.  So all the travel baseball and softball teams are put on hold until after the state tournaments, most have their first practice the Sunday after the HS championships.

It's a gray area for some in the states that allow players to play with both club and HS.  Which practice do you go to if they are at the same day/time and are there repercussions for going to a club practice and missing HS (or vice versa)?  And if you go to all scheduled practices and games, will the players' bodies hold up (5-6 practices and 4-6 games per week)?

There may be a few teams statewide that can keep their current team together in the spring with players opting to not play HS, but those would not only be the exception- they would be rare.  Take the Maumelle teams mentioned above out of the equation, does anyone know of any high level teams that have played a full slate of games together during the spring?

I could see where a spring only, non-club affiliated ECNL type team (if that was even possible) would be the best route for players that want to play after HS to 1) continue to train at a high level, 2) train and play with the best players in the state , and 3) be exposed to a higher level of competition by playing both league games and tournaments.  Don't see this happening though b/c club affiliation is probably required and who gets to be "that club" would never be agreed upon.

[pantherdad]

Forgoing high school for an ECNL/DA team is one thing; forgoing high school for a local club team from Arkansas is a totally different animal. I wish those players the best of luck and sincerely hope this will help them with their wish of playing soccer in college! I'm just not yet convinced that skipping high school to participate in multiple college showcases will make that big of a difference. We've played at so many showcases where there are just a few college coaches watching, usually for just 10-15 minutes, the exceptions might be the Disney showcase; we're also talking a lot of $ to travel for all of the showcases. It's a crapshot that the player will make some sort of impression in just that short of a window. It will be interesting to see if this experiment pays off. Better bang for your buck is probably ID camps at the school of choice.

I understand that at most ECNL/DA showcases, on the other hand, there could be anywhere from 50-75 high level college coaches watching every game!

[sssuperpantherfan2]

The PDP event for this weekend has cancelled due to weather.

[sssuperpantherfan2]

Next event is scheduled for 2/23.

[AuburnTigers98]

Is there ever a chance for PDP to be moved to an indoor facility?

[sssuperpantherfan2]

Hello all,
The February 23rd event will ONLY be for 2005-2008 age groups, boys and girls.

2000-2002 Boys and Girls will play at John Brown University on March 30th. Nominated PDP Players should contact your club representative to RSVP for the Event.
05-08 SCHEDULE
RUSSELLVILLE SOCCER PARK
901 LOCK AND darn RD, RUSSELLVILLE

10:00 - 12:00 Girls Sessions
2005 and 2006 Girls on Field 2
2007 Girls on Field 1A
2008 Boys on Field 1B

1:00 - 3:00 Boys Sessions
2005 and 2006 Boys on Field 2
2007 Boys on Field 1A
2008 Boys on Field 1B

Show up 30 minutes prior to your session start time for check-in.
Each player should wear black shorts and black socks with a gray top.  Training tops / jerseys will be provided to registered players upon check in. All players should bring an appropriate sized soccer ball. Shin guards are required for training.

[sssuperpantherfan2]

The event for the 23rd has canceled due to weather.

[Buck183]

The event for the 23rd has canceled due to weather.

I'm starting to detect a pattern with this event.   

[Ranger20]

Does anyone know why the ODP was not offered this year? I didn't see anything posted about it on the state site.

[sevenof400]

Part of the answer to this question is what does ODP lead to for Arkansas players.  In the past, Arkansas might field teams at the youngest ages, but rarely would they be competitive at the regional level.  To be fair, every now and then a team might do well, but the problem became what good the ODP does for the players.  Players and teams from Arkansas were (are) rarely given much attention by the regional staff in terms of being selected for possible evaluation for regional teams.  Without droning on too much here, the cost of participating in ODP simply never aligned with benefits.  If this were Florida, Texas or North Carolina it would be a different story because many coaches would spend a lot of time watching those teams play given the likelihood there were more talented players on those teams.  Right or not, as the feeling grew that Arkansas players were unlikely to get a fair look at by the regional staff, ODP participation within the state dropped.   

[Ranger20]

Thanks, that makes sense!

[Arkiesoccer]

As a parent of a player that participated in ODP several years ago, what sevenof400 mentions was one of the bigger surprises – there was not a large contention of the higher skilled players participating.  There were only a few clubs that seemed to promote the program resulting in state teams consisting of kids from 3-4 clubs (and they all weren't the larger classic clubs).  From this small pool of players, only a fraction would attend the regional camps –maybe a couple in each age group if even that while other states were sending multiple teams to the camps.  There were a couple 98-99 girls that made regional teams, but that was possibly more on them seeking the opportunity vs the state providing a better path.

Ultimately the reason ODP is not being offered is because the APL (affiliated with US Club soccer and not USYSA which offers ODP) now has the majority of the classic level players that would have participated in the past (opinion only).