Coach Chass you are exactly right... the costs are driven by demand. Demand for the extra training, the better coach, the name of the club, etc. IMHO the cost of soccer is not much different than travel baseball, softball, competitive cheering, dance etc. For example, we have a local pitching hitting group, called coach Dave's I am sure they do it for free, or for very little. I wonder how much D1 training cost? I know because we checked, it is not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination.
Soccer is not the only upside down sport in the great old USA.
Speaking of upside down, parents holding boys out of 8th grade so they can get a year older before they go to high school... happens all the time in American Football... now that is upside down, and all screwed up to me. Really, IMHO it is cheating. But hey, do what floats your boat. Sorry for changing the subject...
