TOP 30 RANKING, WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE?

The most important criteria for determining "America's Best Youth Clubs" was success in the US Youth Soccer National Championships during a three-year cycle (2006-2008), US Youth Soccer National League involvement and the number of players who went on to U.S. Soccer national teams and were selected to US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program All-Star rosters via the annual US Youth Soccer ODP Thanksgiving Interregionals.

Can anyone help break this down?

is primary way to get a national ranking is to enter regional play? (or is there another way into regional tournaments?)

The secondary way is to have players on national teams and ODP?

If I understand this, a club must make a serious dedicated effort for a national ranking and produce ODP players.

Re: TOP 30 RANKING, WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE?

Every national ranking system is biased to their own agenda. This one is biased as noted above to USYS National Championships, Regional and State Cup results and ODP player placement - a USYS program. It ignores other regional tournaments that you are asking about. GotSoccer is biased towards the tournaments it runs and gives points to and does not give points for anything else, besides State Cups, Regionals and National Championships. SoccerinCollege is similar and so on ....

Re: TOP 30 RANKING, WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE?

Ranking are a club driven opiate designed to satiate and validate the egos and sacrifices made by the travelling parent classes..........ultimately all are irrelevant and ephemeral.

Re: TOP 30 RANKING, WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE?

Many parents are ranking driven. They want state cups and high rankings on the national scene. It fuels the whole deal.

[Unregistered]

Ultimately all parents are interested in the off-field lessons that all sports, including soccer, teach their children. These things are just as important to players on town sponsored recreational teams as they are to players with a top 30 club. There is no realistic way to measure the impact, except that parents need to be comfortable that their player is learning those lessons. For the vast majority of youth soccer players, this is where it ends. And that is more than fine. For other players the experience is also intended to bring a player up through the soccer ranks: HS, college and for a very, very selct few pro. Success in anything requires commitment and sacrafice. Players on these top end teams have made that commitment when it comes to soccer. They may also be just as committed to school, family and church. However, they will have to sacrafice some things. That isn't for everybody but it is unfair and unwise to assume that every player traveling to a college showcase or playing in an Academy game is the product of a parent with a warped sense of priorities.

[Unregistered]

Nicely said.