Not sure if I agree or not on that last point (we certainly have some lower level teams in CPL), but at some point there is a real question to clubs about administrative overhead, logistics, growth, registering and sanctioning bodies.
While not impossible, certainly harder to pick and choose sanctioning bodies (leagues) on a team by team basis. Or even cohort model. In addition that can hurt pooling, club passing, rostering decisions and hamper growth opportunities for players deserving to move to a stronger team mid-year.
I actually don't see the two junior academy leagues as some sort of 'thunderdome' exercise to bash each other until one limps off to oblivion (seems to happen on here a lot), but almost as a necessity to support all the clubs and teams wherever they register (SCYS or US CLUB).
Of course, will get much harder as teams age up, team rosters grow and player counts drop (particularly on girls side) and disparate model is not viable. But then again both sides have particularly restrictive policies that force a binary decision. Interesting times...
Curious as what particularly restrictive policies you see on both sides. And while it is admirable of you to see both organizations as a necessity, I think you can understand why certain viewpoints hold that some clubs have been deliberately hostile to others and leaves many to question motive (all kids, some kids, or adults self interest).
On a personal level, I have tried to tone down the antagonism (at least publicly). However, I have become very disillusioned by what I see as some for-profit clubs going to great lengths to protect their bottom line. I thought parents would be the biggest problem. I was naive and thought this was about the kids and the game. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
