Fulton County Ohio Media

Incoming Swanton High School junior, Madelaine Diaz, has been playing soccer since she was four years old, mostly through the Village of Swanton’s Recreation program and on into high school.  Recently, she took a giant leap in an effort to improve her skills and hopefully, continue to play at the next level following high school.  At the suggestion of her mother, April Bailey, Madelaine got involved with the Ohio Olympic Development Program (ODP), a youth soccer program whose purpose is, as stated on their website, “To identify and provide opportunities for high potential players, facilitate their development, expose them to the next level of their chosen path and motivate their pursuit of excellence.”

Initially, the ODP begins with a “tryout” session where any and all players, grouped by the year they were born, may participate.  From there, however, it was by invitation only as the more talented players were placed onto teams and readied for competition.  Based on her performance, Madelaine was able to made great strides in her abilities and impressed many coaches along the way.   “I didn’t really expect much to come out of it.  I just went there to do my best,” she said.  “They contacted me and told me I made it on to the next phase.”

The next phase was comprised of the top 25 girls in each age group from the State of Ohio and included three days of training and competition at Bowling Green State University while staying in the dorms on campus.  Madelaine, whose position on the pitch is as an outside back (defender), played with a team of girls who were, like her, born in the year 2008.  Among other games, her team played against the older 2007 team in an effort to challenge the players to do their best.

This past weekend, Madelaine found herself in Cincinnati in an ODP Midwest Showcase, playing with an Ohio team against one team from Minnesota and two more from Wisconsin.  The tournament gave her an opportunity to be evaluated by college coaches and college recruiting scouts.  She is expecting the results to be delivered to her sometime next week.  These results will help guide her to what college program level, in her evaluators’ opinions, she has the best chance at competing and what aspects of her game could use some improvement and more focus.  This and future evaluations will help determine what colleges might be in play for her to apply.

Madelaine still has two more years of high school left and another off-season to attend soccer camps to hone her skills even further.  Her early list of possible college destinations includes, Xavier University in Cincinnati, Oakland University in Michigan and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.  Later this Summer, Madelaine will be rejoining her Swanton soccer teammates as they attempt to add more glory to the historically successful Lady Bulldog program.