$200? Wouldn't that be magnificent?
The real answer is more and better corporate sponsorship.
Cost cutting? That's a great question. Off the top of my head, ODP last year cost about $1200, with no allowance for spending money, gasoline, etc. That includes tryout, W-S and Tuscaloosa. Does not include numerous trips "yonder" for training. On that account, parents pretty much were left to carpool (or not). Realistically, I had about $1750 into it, by season's end.
For my money, the W-S exercise is a waste of time and money. I saw very little genuine evaluation ... a lot more vague confirmation of accepted truths and previous lists. Games are routinely cancelled/shifted, etc. The weather generally stinks in W-S in January -- 13 degrees at wake-up time last year; rain and wind in previous years.
I would focus on an in-state mini-camp environment, with fewer players and much more hard training and various competitions, including, but not limited to, 11-v-11. This could be done for far less than $400/kid, and far better than 4 kids per (inadequate) room.
I'd take a long, hard look at the Tuscaloosa activity, in terms of value. To me, it's nothing more than an overpriced college camp -- little or no genuine instruction, with the vast majority of kids never really getting a shot at the coveted night-time slots. And "holdover" camp? Don't get me started. When I saw a kid "disappointed" to be held over, based on a previous year's experience ... WOW! That told me all I needed to know.
In the end, the focus and end-product of ODP should not be team tournaments and titles. It should be in training, individual technical development, etc. As it stands, tuscaloosa is basically games and downtime, with a smattering of mediocre "training" and the opportunity to watch the "chosen" play at night.
