Academy vs. Premier League vs. ODP - HELP!

What's the difference between Academy, Premier and ODP? Advantages? Disadvantages? It's very confusing! Does one make more sense at a certain age, assuming the boy has the talent?

Premier league is a "bonus" league. The top 2-4 teams from D-1 the previous year, assuming they kept one more than half of their roster from that year, play in the premier league against the top teams from Oklahoma and South Texas. It's a little more travel (two out of town weekends) and 8 more games in the fall. It's in addition to the Classic League games. The top finisher in Premier gets an automatic bid to regionals. The extra competition is great for the kids' development. To play in this league, you have to play for a team which qualified and the team has to stay in Classic League. So, you can't play premier if you are in academy, but you can play ODP.

ODP is a hit and miss experience. For the really top kids, it's an avenue to the regional and national teams. We have NTX boys living in Florida training with the U17 National team, and other NTX boys get the experience of traveling to different countries to train with and play against international competition. Wow! For most kids, ODP is a chance to play a couple of extra tournaments, have an extra practice on Sundays when it works out, and attend a fairly expensive camp. The only people who really seem to knock ODP are the ones whose kids didn't make it. But many participants say that it's just really extra practice with some marginal benefits and looks good on the resume. You can participate in any league and also play ODP as long as your kids' legs and your car and money hold out.

Academy is a whole different ball game. You're out of Classic League, and you can't play in Premier league. They practice more and play less, and they travel for a larger percentage of your games. If your child has big ambitions for their future in soccer and is very dedicated and committed to the sport, this is currently the best avenue. The college exposure is presumably bigger, and the Classic League does lose strength when the teams and players pull out for this league. You just have to decide if the sacrifices are worth it: more travel, more expense (unless you make the FC Dallas squad), possibly less play time, and very likely being asked not to play other sports, and for FC Dallas not even playing with your high school.

scrmum wrote:Premier league is a "bonus" league. The top 2-4 teams from D-1 the previous year, assuming they kept one more than half of their roster from that year, play in the premier league against the top teams from Oklahoma and South Texas. It's a little more travel (two out of town weekends) and 8 more games in the fall. It's in addition to the Classic League games. The top finisher in Premier gets an automatic bid to regionals. The extra competition is great for the kids' development. To play in this league, you have to play for a team which qualified and the team has to stay in Classic League. So, you can't play premier if you are in academy, but you can play ODP.

ODP is a hit and miss experience. For the really top kids, it's an avenue to the regional and national teams. We have NTX boys living in Florida training with the U17 National team, and other NTX boys get the experience of traveling to different countries to train with and play against international competition. Wow! For most kids, ODP is a chance to play a couple of extra tournaments, have an extra practice on Sundays when it works out, and attend a fairly expensive camp. The only people who really seem to knock ODP are the ones whose kids didn't make it. But many participants say that it's just really extra practice with some marginal benefits and looks good on the resume. You can participate in any league and also play ODP as long as your kids' legs and your car and money hold out.

Academy is a whole different ball game. You're out of Classic League, and you can't play in Premier league. They practice more and play less, and they travel for a larger percentage of your games. If your child has big ambitions for their future in soccer and is very dedicated and committed to the sport, this is currently the best avenue. The college exposure is presumably bigger, and the Classic League does lose strength when the teams and players pull out for this league. You just have to decide if the sacrifices are worth it: more travel, more expense (unless you make the FC Dallas squad), possibly less play time, and very likely being asked not to play other sports, and for FC Dallas not even playing with your high school.

That is very helpful - thanks. Is there a website link for the Premier League? Just trying to see teams/locations/competitiveness, etc. Also, when does Academy start?

http://www.gotsport.com/events/?EventID=11555

I brought this up on another thread. I question the relevance of PL with the Academy in place. I can see why some might be confused given that DA (Dev. Acdmy) looks for more practices (min. of 3x per wk), quality matches with more recovery between.

PL is the more is better. U15 and up you've got 12 fall league matches with a bonus of PL sandwiched in between. Sure you can play HS, then back to mini-spring league, state cup, and then June. I know of a Texan PL team that will play more matches than there are weekends in the year. I question the point of it all.

Yak Attack wrote:I brought this up on another thread. I question the relevance of PL with the Academy in place. I can see why some might be confused given that DA (Dev. Acdmy) looks for more practices (min. of 3x per wk), quality matches with more recovery between.

PL is the more is better. U15 and up you've got 12 fall league matches with a bonus of PL sandwiched in between. Sure you can play HS, then back to mini-spring league, state cup, and then June. I know of a Texan PL team that will play more matches than there are weekends in the year. I question the point of it all.

Agreed - although I'm not a diehard for all of this, the 'more is better' seems like an easy sell for a lot of the overly zealous parents. I've liked PL - better games, not much different than Classic with the exception of the idiotic travel schedule (that one game per day is a head scratcher) - but, the locations are pretty easy.

The ability to play in HS would be the biggest selling point I'd think, Academies have DCup, but are there really that many happy about not playing in HS? Soccer is second tier for certain in HS, but the memories are a big deal. Also - many schools are pretty darned serious about their teams (Jesuit, FM, Coppell, Plano(s)...)

We like HS soccer at Frisco Wakeland too huh clueless:)

oglesbyr wrote:We like HS soccer at Frisco Wakeland too huh clueless:)

LOL - yours was actually the first one I thought of - but figured there was a bigger crowd associated with the other schools based upon postings!

I totally agree!