Sunday, February 26, 2012
BRADENTON, Fla. – The 2012 Super Y-League Boys ODP National Camp finished on a high note Sunday at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida, with the top performers from the four-day camp receiving an opportunity they will not soon forget.
With the camp being held at the home of the U.S. U17 National Team Residency, the SYL ODP 1995/96 Select A and Select B teams had the honor of finishing out camp with scrimmages against the U17 national team, split into two squads.
“My involvement over the years with the U17 program and the coaches gave me the opportunity to ask the U17 coach, Richie Williams, if he would bring out the U17 National Team to play against our 1995/96 select team,” USL National Technical Director Peter Mellor said. “He said ‘Not only will I bring our first team out to play you, I’ll bring the whole squad of 31 players out and we look forward to playing you.’"
After four days of hard work, testing and classroom instruction led by some of the best soccer minds in the country, the SYL Select A team held its own with the U.S. stars for much of the first half, entering the break trailing 1-0. The U.S. turned up the pressure in the second half and eventually walked off with a 6-0 victory, with the first three goals coming from first-choice striker Wesley Wade.
For Wade the scrimmage had a little more meaning than for most, as he spent this weekend last year as part of the SYL ODP National Camp at IMG. The camp helped him earn his invitation to the US U17 Residency program, and he’s made the most of the opportunity.
“[The 2011 SYL ODP camp] helped me a lot, and ODP in general, and it got me here,” said Wade, who starred at the 2012 Super Y-League North American Finals with the New Jersey Rangers. “This camp helped me, and just playing with different people and knowing that I could make it here made me more devoted.”
The coaching lineup for the weekend was impressive, with Mellor joined by the likes of longtime University of Portland Director of Soccer and former US U23 WNT coach Bill Irwin, former Akron, Yale, Old Dominion and Hartwick head coach Bill Killen, UC Santa Barbara’s Stuart Dobson and Stetson University’s Cristian Materazzi. All camp participants enjoyed high level scrimmages on today’s final day, with the U17 India National Team and squads from IMG Academies’ residency program among the opponents, in addition to the U.S. U17s.
“I want to thank US Soccer very much for doing this for us,” Mellor said. “It’s an honor, and it certainly is an eye-opener for our ODP select team. From the players’ perspective, it was an eye-opener to see the speed of play the national team plays at. I think it’s very important for the camp, and not just the kids, but the parents as well, to see that USL is forward-minded and wants to give the kids value for coming in, and playing the US National Team certainly does that.”
US U17 coach Richie Williams said the scrimmages offered a valuable opportunity for his squad as well as he builds toward the 2012 FIFA U17 World Cup.
“We know it was a great experience for them, they’ll get a lot out of it, but we got a lot out of it too,” Williams said. “Obviously the score line was a little lopsided but I think both squads got a lot out of it. We just played a couple of MLS teams in the in the past couple of weeks and even though we kind of got beat up pretty good in those games it was a learning experience for our guys.
“I think today, even though they got beat up a little today I think it was a very good learning experience for them and a very good soccer experience for them to become better players.”
Players selected to attend the camp were identified as the top players in their birth year and among the top two percent of players in the Super Y-League. The ODP Program is a crucial component of the USL Super Y-League, offering the best players from the U13 to U17 age groups a chance to receive top-quality coaching and the opportunity to be scouted by U.S. National Team and college coaches. The 2012 SYL Girls ODP National Camp kicks off Thursday at IMG Academies.