What is the Young Olympians Program?

The Young Olympians Program was started by the Cal South Technical Department in the spring of 2007.

The program's goal is to educate our youngest players on how the Olympic Development Program is run and the benefits of being in the program. The Cal South Technical Department feels that we can help the development of our youngest players by having them train over 20 times per year. Player development and identification is the primary goal of this program.

History of the Cal South YOP (Young Olympians Program)

• 2007: we named two player pools of 50 boys and 50 girls each, who then participated in three training days. All players were released at the conclusion of training.
• 2008: we named two player pools of 75 boys and 75 girls each. We held two weekend training camps, and from there, invited the top 24 boys and girls to a three-day winter academy.
• 2009: we implemented a comprehensive scouting program using the Cal South State and National Cup competitions. In March, we announced two player pools of 80 boys and 80 girls each. This was followed by three days of training, and also added a four-day Residential Development Camp that was run on the same lines as the Region IV ODP Summer ID Camps. We then invited the top 24 boys and girls to a three-day winter academy.
• 2010: We finalized how the program will look and run over the next couple of years. Each March, we announce a player pool of 125 boys and girls, will hold two weekend training camps and reduce the pool of players to 60. Those 60 players will be invited to a four-day State Residential Development Camp in June each year. As we did last year, the camp will be run on the same lines as the Region IV ODP Summer ID Camps. We will close the summer cycle by inviting the top 28 to 36 boys and girls to train in December each year with the potential of 18 players attending the Region IV ODP championships in January each year.
• 2011: The YOP program will now attend two events annually the Pacific Coast Invitational held on Memorial Day weekend in Southern California on the campus of Ventura College and the USYS Region IV ODP Championships in January each year.

How do we select players?

• We do not accept player recommendations for the YOP program
• All players are scouted through State and National Cup games
• All players are held to the same standards of our ODP program

At the completion of the winter cycle, all players are released and will be rescouted for the main ODP program

January-December year of birth is used for the YOP Program:

Current Year (Player's month and year of birth)

• 2012 (Jan - Dec 2000)
• 2013 (Jan - Dec 2001)
• 2014 (Jan - Dec 2002)

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