Boys and girls ages 13-17 gathered at locations across Eastern Pennsylvania on Sept. 11 and 12 for the first round of ODP Tryouts. About 1,500 youth soccer players registered for the trials which were held in Downingtown, Lancaster, Lehigh Valley, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Bucks, Scranton and Harrisburg.
The tryouts kicked off on Sept. 11 with boys ages 13-17, as well as U13 girls. Tryouts for girls ages 14-17 were on Sept. 12.
With so many players in attendance, it was hard not to notice the high level of play.
“In going through the fields, I thought the talent was really strong this year,” ODP Technical Director Mike Barr said. “We’re hoping to make this a really special year because we’ll have the Virginia friendlies again and hopefully our teams will perform as well as they did at the regional championships. I’m excited about this year, I think all of our teams will be very competitive and have success like last year.”
The second round of ODP Tryouts, which will also be held in Downingtown, Lancaster, Lehigh Valley, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Bucks, Scranton and Harrisburg, are from Sept 18-19. Following that, there will be callbacks for the selected players.
View photos from the first ODP Tryout weekend here!