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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, March 15, 2002

Camp offers aspiring collegians exposure

By Leila Wei
Special to The Advertiser

"To be seen and recruited at the highest level usually means travel to the Mainland and participation in tournaments which have many college coaches in attendance. We have this opportunity ... through (the Olympic Development Program's) camp," ODP coach Sean Richardson says.

Greg Anderson photo

Living in Hawai'i does not make it easy for a young soccer player with aspirations of playing for a top college program on the Mainland.

The chances of being seen by Division I coaches are much lower here compared to the Mainland.

The Olympic Development Program (ODP), a four-day, eight-session camp, is a bridge between Hawai'i and the Mainland. The camp offers a chance for Hawai'i's youth to be seen by Division I coaches from the Mainland.

"This is a great opportunity to be seen and be trained by some of the top coaches in the country," said Sean Richardson, head coach of ODP. "To be seen and recruited at the highest level usually means travel to the Mainland and participation in tournaments which have many college coaches in attendance. We have this opportunity here in Hawai'i through ODP's March camp."

Attending the camp and learning new and different soccer techniques is only half of what is offered.

ODP also doubles as a tryout for players who will be competing for a spot on a state team that will travel to the Mainland.

The camp, which costs $125, runs March 24-27 at Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park in Waipahu. Each age group has two two-hour sessions a day.

Coaches from women's programs such as UCLA, USC, Oregon, New Mexico, UC-Irvine and Ohio State and men's programs Gonzaga, Penn State, St. Mary's, Marshall, the University of San Diego and the University of San Francisco, will be attending.

"It helps coaches to notice you and it helps you make a name for yourself," said Shari Nishikawa (Iolani '00), who was a part of the 2000 U-18 National Team.

Nishikawa, the first freshman at Loyola Marymount (Calif.) to be named to the West Coast Conference first team, said that being in the clinic teaches you mental toughness and to strive for what you really want.

ODP is run by the Hawai'i Youth Soccer Association (HYSA). Oregon women's head coach Bill Steffen, who recruited Hawai'i players such as Nicole Garbin (Baldwin '01), the 2000 and 2001 Hawai'i state player of the year, and Mele French (Mililani '02), a Honolulu Advertiser 2001 All-State selection, said "it exposed them and they were more aware of what they were getting into; they played against the best players, which prepared them for the next level."

"It provides training in terms of working with a higher level of players, exposure to higher level of coaching, and a higher level of competition," Steffen said.

Once players are chosen for a state team (the number of players on each team are yet to be determined), the girls travel to the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, and the boys to Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.

There, they compete with players from Region IV (Alaska, Arizona, California North, California South, Colorado, Hawai'i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) for a spot in the regional pool, which consists of 36-46 players from each age group. From this group, the top 18 players are picked for the regional team. Then they move on to national pools and teams.

Last year, 20 Hawai'i players were chosen to regional and national pools and teams. As a part of being chosen, they travel to the Mainland as well as internationally.

College coaches place a high premium on ODP performance for college resumes. They look at how far a player goes in the program, and know that players who are selected are done so by colleagues with a discerning eye.

"I can't overemphasize the importance of being involved with ODP because all major Division I coaches place a huge premium to who is selected to regional and national teams and to get to that you have to be in the state ODP program," Hawai'i women's coach Pinsoom Tenzing said.

Not only is ODP advantageous for players, but coaches can attend and learn new drills and systems.

"The way players in Hawai'i are going to get better is for our coaches to get better," said ODP administrator Herb Schreiner. "We welcome everybody to come out and take notes and see how these coaches operate. That is a way for coaches in Hawai'i to improve."

Said Richardson: "This is an opportunity for Hawai'i's coaches to see new training sessions and to observe how coaches at the next level handle players. And this is how Hawai'i's coaches will grow."

ODP is for both boys and girls born between 1984 to 1988. There is also a mock clinic held for those born in 1989 at Hawai'i Pacific University in Kane'ohe.

For more information, call Sean Richardson at 292-2222, or Herb and Michelle Schreiner at 395-1771.