Valparaiso’s Caden Helfrich has been added to the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (US Youth Soccer ODP) 1999 Pool Team. Helfrich is among 50 of the top players in Indiana selected for the program.
Helfrich plays midfielder for the Indiana Magic u-11 White Team. Caden recently helped lead his Magic team to a victory in the championship game of the Best of the Midwest tournament, beating a top ranked team from Kansas City, MO. Caden lives in Valparaiso and attends Hayes Leonard Elementary School.
The US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (US Youth Soccer ODP) was formed in 1977 to identify a pool of players in each age group from which a National Team would be selected for international competition. The US Youth Soccer ODP provides high-level training to benefit and enhance the development of players at all levels; and, through the use of carefully selected and licensed coaches, develops a mechanism for the exchange of ideas and curriculum to improve all levels of coaching.
From 1982 until the present, international events for youth national teams have increased substantially and the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program has kept pace by instituting trials and player pools for five age groups in the boys' program, and five age groups in the girls' program.
Each State Association holds US Youth Soccer ODP try-outs on an annual basis, conducted by state association coaches who are recognized for their ability to identify and train players with superior skills. Players are evaluated on four major components that make up a soccer player: technique, tactics, fitness and a psychological component or attitude.
US Youth Soccer ODP, designed to identify and develop a pool of players from which U.S. National Teams may be selected, is the original Olympic Development Program. US Youth Soccer ODP is the only elite player development program that can claim members of Major League Soccer and the former Women's United Soccer Association, as well as a majority of current and past national and youth team members, as alumni. US Youth Soccer ODP continues to lead the way in elite player’s identification and development with programs in all 55 State Association, which participate in international tournaments as well as regional and national championships.
For more information please contact Joy Carter at 800-347-4972, or visit www.USYouthSoccer.org.