Northern Nevada soccer teams find success at ODP West Region Tournament
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Thu, 02/02/2023 - 1:43pm
In just its fourth year of operating as a separate entity from Las Vegas, the Northern Nevada Olympic Development teams experienced its best success ever earlier this month at the ODP West Region Championships in Mesa, Arizona.
After posting a combined record of 6-29-1 (.181 win percentage) in 2022, the ten teams in those same age groups went a combined 17-20-3 (.463) in 2023. Two teams won their respective age groups (U13 girls and U17 boys). The U13 girls defeated Utah 2-1 in their final on Monday, January 9, while the U17 boys defeated Utah 4-1 in their championship game.
Two Northern Nevada teams finished second in their age groups (U13 boys and U16 boys), and two additional teams made semifinal appearances (U12 boys and U12 girls).
“Despite the late start and number of practice cancellations due to weather, an incredible effort was put forth by our Northern Nevada teams,” said first-year Northern Nevada ODP Director Chris DeLeon, who was the coach of the U-13 girls team that won the state’s only girls’ championship. “Our staff consisted of college and licensed coaches that have coached or played in the ODP program. We hope we have shown what can happen even more with more club support and athlete participation.”
In 2019, due to geographical challenges, Northern Nevada formed its own state team and Southern Nevada formed its own team. Each state team competes against other states in their respective region (Northern Nevada is part of Region IV/West Region). The three other regions are (Region I/East, Region II/South, and Region III/Midwest). The West Region is comprised of teams from Hawaii, Alaska, CalNorth, CalSouth, Washington, Utah, Oregon, Wyoming, New Mexico, Northern Nevada, Southern Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Colorado.
ODP is a national identification program offering high quality coaching and providing a pathway to regional and Olympic and national team selection for youth soccer players in the United States. The Northern Nevada players had to try out against other soccer players from around the area to earn a spot on the state team.
The top performing players at January’s event in Arizona will receive an invite to the Region IV/West Region Camp where they will compete against the tournament’s other top performers. At that regional event, the top players will be selected to the Region IV team and begin playing against other three regions, eventually creating a national ODP team that competes internationally.
Those that participated in this year’s event came from several competitive youth soccer clubs In Northern Nevada, although they mostly were comprised of players from Battle Born FC, Sierra Surf, and South Tahoe FC. DeLeon hopes all the area’s clubs will support the program in the future so Northern Nevada can build on this year’s success.
“ODP provides a great opportunity for athletes that want to play more and an avenue to be seen by evaluators and chose for regional team,” DeLeon said. “I’m excited to see how many of our athletes get a phone call for the regional pool, and hopefully we get more support in the North from clubs, coaches, and athletes. A big thank you goes to our staff, families, and athletes that took a chance and believed.”
