Chico,
Competition is what makes you better. Whether in sports or building cars. Teams get better by having other teams to benchmark themselves against.
I know......teams get better by making their players better and by adding more good players.
But kids are competitive and they get better because they want to win. To beat the team that just beat them.
If your U11-12 league stinks and you can't draw kids for ODP what the heck is that telling you? Why is it that you think the penetration is so bad? There is nowhere for younger kids to play.
Once past rec....where does a dynamite young 8-9 year old play? CESA is big enough and unified enough to offer a good option for their kids, but unless you go to their tournaments you'll never see them or get to play them.
I'm not blaming them....just saying that part of the reason soccer is so sporadic in the rest of the state might be the lack of cross-pollination.
