to answer your club affiliation question, I will have to rely on what I have seen, and the lot I have heard. The part I have heard is from people I trust with my life, so I take it to be FACT.
Yes, club affiliation affects who makes the team. In the best case if two kids are about even a coach will take a known property, the kid he or she knows. That part makes sense to me. In a worse case, it is plain worse. Politics play a role. The problem is it is almost impossible to prove and is impossible to stop.
ODP is worth it, warts, and all. Politics is a WART.
