A Positive Experience, a Real Pathway.
To help players reach their full potential, SC Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program (ODP) facilitates an environment focused on a positive experience, opportunity, personal growth and success, friendship, and fun in the game. It’s a supplemental training and games program for higher-performing players across the state, run alongside (not instead of) regular club training.
Federation pathway: ODP identifies, evaluates, and develops players for U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs — a genuine step on the national talent pathway, run through your state association.
Scope & Goals
Throughout South Carolina, player development is entrusted to clubs and licensed coaches — players typically train up to three times a week with a regular games program. ODP doesn’t interrupt that. It supplements it, giving players the chance to train and compete alongside high-performing players across the state and region.
Aimed at National-Level Players — But Not Only.
ODP is aimed at National League level players — MLS Next, ECNL, GA, and National 1 (formerly USYS National League and US Club NPL). But registration is not exclusive to National League players, and not every high-performing or potential player is currently playing at that level.
Not sure where you stand? Speak with your club director for guidance on your current performance level.
20–25 Spots. Per Age Group.
Players try out to be one of 20–25 accepted into the state pool for their age group, competing in iD matches against the existing pool. From there, up to 18 players from the state pool may be chosen for sub-regional events representing South Carolina — with a pathway onward to regional and national teams for those selected.
Philosophy & Varied Experience.
To help players reach their full potential, ODP focuses on an overall positive experience — centered around opportunity, fun, friendship, personal growth, and success in the game. Enjoyment and creativity are maximized based on age-group characteristics, within a game-based environment supporting U.S. Soccer’s YNT position profiles and key qualities.
Players experience winning, losing, and grinding out results — building the decision-making that comes with real game management. Cross-age play, festivals, and sub-regionals mix moments of being a high performer with moments of real struggle, so players learn to manage every scenario, not just their comfortable ones.
Key Differences From Last Season.
Two teams are formed from existing players and players seeking placement, competing in two matches on iD day — real match play, not a drill-and-cut tryout format.
Players born 2011–2015 now get two-year placement (2010s get a single final year). The goal: roster consistency, real team chemistry, and less fear of annual tryouts and being displaced.
From iD Match to National Team.
Five stages connect a South Carolina iD match all the way to the national and international stage.
Players try out to be one of 20–25 players to participate in the state pool.
Training and a series of game play with state pool players, in deliberately unique and challenging formats.
Up to 18 players from the state pool are chosen to represent South Carolina against other South Region state teams.
Up to four players are nominated to the South Region ID Camp, alongside players from the other 12 South Region states.
Players selected from Region ID Camp play on the South Region team against other regions — with a view to representing the ODP National Team nationally and internationally.
Find Your Soccer Pathway.
Whether ODP is your next step or you’re still figuring out where you fit, TM17pro maps out every route — from local training and college pathways to programs in Hamburg, Germany and RC Lens, France.
See Your Soccer Pathway →Preparing for iD Match Day.
ODP’s iD matches move fast — two full games against the existing state pool, not a drill-and-cut format. Our Soccer Talents program is built around exactly that: small-sided games, fast decision-making, and the kind of intensity that makes iD match day feel familiar instead of overwhelming.
Small-sided games built to train fast decisions under real pressure — the same speed ODP ID matches demand.
Coached by Mirko Dieseler, UEFA B licensed coach and talent scout who knows what evaluators are actually looking for.
Tactical understanding and versatility across positions — the same qualities national-pathway evaluators look for.
Register for SC ODP.
Registration and current iD match dates are handled directly through SC Youth Soccer.