The fact of the matter is that college soccer coaches recruit from club soccer, not from high school. The best coaching and competition is in club, not high school. With regard to other sports, I imagine it's a bit of a mix. There is no club system for football, so I suppose it's all about high school. Basketball players are recruited from both high school and AAU. Baseball players are recruited from high school and the travel league/club system.
The current paradigm in youth soccer is far from perfect, but it isn't all bad. Essentially every club offers scholarships to talented players who could not otherwise afford to play. But, that isn't going to capture every "deserving" kid. As long as it is necessary to play against teams from around the region and country in order to consistently challenge yourself, it will be an expensive proposition. My guess is that, over time, we (on the boys' side) will move toward a more European model where professional clubs "adopt" and underwrite the elite youth soccer clubs. We are seeing some of that in the Development Academy now. US Soccer recognizes the hinderance that cost represents in the development of our unrealized potential. The answers are not, unfortunately, easy to come by.
