When did the Academy/Pipeline list come out? This week? I think typically its just emailed to those kids on it correct, so kids just assume eventually they fell off… which kind of stinks, it would be nice to know definitively.
Each year kids that don’t move on get invited to play and travel in the “next tier” of events and trainings. Think of it as a way to keep the numbers up.
No not publicly posted by USAWP… a screenshot of pipeline list passed through a dads text thread I’m on and dont want to share publicly as it has identifying notes on it from the original sender. But its out there.
Are people on that pipeline list that are not on the NTSC list?
A) Why don’t you count the goalies?
B) Hopefully, for the last damn time, the outcome of these scrimmages has no bearing on the number of players selected from each zone or team to NTSC.
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(A) because by age there were no goalies on the Youth team who could move to Cadet
(B) agreed and we knew that; what we did not know was that six Youth kids were going to come down and occupy spots. Would have at least diminished the hopes of a bunch of kids who competed hard on both blue and red for what was effectively 6 spots total for NTSC.
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And parents, not making NTSC does not mean your child cannot play at the D1 level, look mid major! Can they expect an athletic scholarship, probably not, but not many who made NTSC will get scholarships, even partial!
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Fact Check: True
SPA Blue finished 6th and received fewer invites than the 19th place Midwest squad. PAC White finished in the top-10 and got zero invites.
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I watched a lot of the cadet games. There were several players who really stood out during the games and seemed to consistently impact play positively and yet they weren’t selected, while a few others stood out consistently for the wrong reasons yet still ended up being selected, which only confirms what happens in the actual games doesn’t translate into the final selections. Add this to the already heavy schedule these kids have (especially now with the addition of the 18U National League) and I wouldn’t be surprised if some parents of players who weren’t selected might actually feel a little relieved rather than disappointed. this may be why so many players apparently opted out this year (as has been mentioned previously on this board).
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This is pretty inaccurate. Yes your child can still play D1 if not NTSC, but to say they will probably not get an athletic scholarship is a bit wild. First off, most players in general will not get a scholarship like you said, but to say if they don’t make NTSC erodes that is misleading. College coaches are not the same as these club coaches making selections. College coaches have been pretty clear that they are fine with kids not even doing ODP and have mentioned themselves how polarizing it is.
It is in USAWP best interest for everyone to believe this is a prerequisite to college offers. Much less the Olympic Dream.
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As mentioned by @JFranPolo in another thread, Alex Obert never made an NTSC list, and yes he did do ODP. He played with Team USA for three Olympics.
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Jesse Smith was involved in the process a few years back and shared a similar story about never making it and then being a 5-time Olympian.
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There is a political component to the process that can often leave deserving kids on the wrong side of the cut. It is easier to see the politics when showing NTSC invites by zone.
That distribution is political weight, not athletic performance. PSW just won ODP Dev and ODP Youth, and arguably could have won Cadet if not playing their four strongest Cadets up in Youth. At Junior Olympics, PSW clubs were 10u national champions, 12u national champions, fourth in 14u, 16u national champions, and won bronze in 18u.
As far as I know, PSW is the only zone with clubs taking their 12u and 13u teams to play in Europe in the lead up to JOs. LJU took their 12u team to Italy two years ago and Del Mar 12u trained in Croatia last year. LJU’s 13u team was in Spain last year and I’m told SD Dons 13u will train in Greece this year.
Despite all the winning and experience playing in Europe, PSW gets third-most invites to NTSC because they are small with fewer total USAWP members and as such aren’t as politically powerful within USAWP as SPA and PAC. There is a tiny bit of wiggle room, but the NTSC allocations given to each zone is near the top of considerations when compiling the list. Athletes are mainly contesting versus other athletes in their own zone with national evaluators serving as a double check to the opinion of the zone coaches.
If you have an athlete who ended up on the wrong side of these political allocations, it doesn’t mean your kid isn’t good. Last year, one of the most prolific goal scorers in the country over the past three years was left off the NTSC list, and for the record I have no relation to Brevin Kass, the player who was left off. He made the list this year after embarrassing the national evaluators at Champion’s Cup by doing what he has always done, scoring in bunches.
I do think the national evaluators get it right more often than the get it wrong. This isn’t a screed against national team coaches. I fully support and appreciate the time being put in by coaches everywhere, but for the parents and athletes: don’t give up, keep fighting.
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This is an analysis of pipeline ‘retention,’ the number of Youth players who were identified at previous stages of the ODP cycle. To illustrate: in 2026, there are 66 selectees; 51 (77%) were previously identified as Cadets, and 33 (50%) were identified as far back as the Development level. While this means half of the Youth roster was identified early, it also shows that the other 50% successfully entered the NTSC pipeline at an older age. Notably, this ‘stickiness’ has been increasing over time, indicating a more consistent identification process at the younger levels.
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This year will be interesting at the youth level. Will Ross make any changes to the team he brought to Malta? Are there any changes to be made after 2 years or has he already had his guys this whole time and the last two years haven’t moved any needles?
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To your JO point, yes, PSW has finished highly at several levels but they don’t usually have as many teams or players finishing in the the top 10. Giving 10 points for a 1st place finish and 1 point for a 10th place, below you can see the “points” by zone for 10U and 12U. SPA takes the cake and eats it, too.
| 10U | 12U | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DEL MAR BLUE | DEL MAR BLUE A |
| 2 | PATRIOT NAVY | NEWPORT BEACH BLUE A |
| 3 | NEWPORT BEACH BLUE | VANGUARD BLUE A |
| 4 | COMMERCE BLACK A | CC UNITED BLACK A |
| 5 | GREENWICH AQUATICS | MISSION WPC |
| 6 | SOCAL BLACK A | NORTH IRVINE BLACK A |
| 7 | SAN CLEMENTE RED A | SOCAL |
| 8 | TEMPLE CITY A | PATRIOT NAVY A |
| 9 | DEL MAR WHITE | CHANNEL ISLANDS GOLD A |
| 10 | NORTH IRVINE BLACK A | SAN JOSE EXPRESS BLUE |
| 10U | 12U | |
| 1 | PSW | PSW |
| 2 | SPA | SPA |
| 3 | SPA | SPA |
| 4 | CCA | PAC |
| 5 | NEZ | SPA |
| 6 | SPA | SPA |
| 7 | SPA | SPA |
| 8 | CCA | SPA |
| 9 | PSW | CCA |
| 10 | SPA | PAC |
| 10U | 12U | |
| PSW | 12 | 10 |
| SPA | 27 | 35 |
| CCA | 10 | 2 |
| NEZ | 6 | 0 |
| MTN | 0 | 0 |
| PAC | 0 | 8 |
Now, you know how I found the new website. 
This new website is sooo good. ;). There’s a 5 year old coaching manual. Has it been there for 5 years? Who knows?
What did you say? Why were you flagged?
This is probably one of the most realistic explanations of the political side of the process that I’ve seen posted here, so thank you for laying it out. That said, if the goal of NTSC is truly to identify the best players nationally, zones really shouldn’t factor into the equation at all. The best players should make it regardless of what zone they come from. Once political allocation by zone starts to influence selections, it inevitably means several deserving players will be left out.
I believe the counterargument is that USAWP is trying to grow the sport in other zones and wants broader geographic representation. That may be a valid objective, but it’s a different objective. Trying to simultaneously pick the best players in the country while also allocating spots by zone is two inconsistent goals.
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