Bomber, I agree 100% with your post. During our two year experience with CESA and ECNL, we felt like the training was excellent; however, we saw a team transform from all players located in the upstate or at least close enough to travel to every training session to a team where many players were located too far away to make even one training session/week. Local players who made the team successful were displaced to allow room for the recruitment of out of town players who couldn't take advantage of team training offered at CESA. This is not player development or good training - it's recruitment, which brings in more training fees and name recognition for CESA. I understand recruitment at the college level where players are on scholarship; however, at the club level the focus should be on player development instead of name recognition. CESA coaches continually say they are always looking for more talented players to improve the team; why can't the focus be on developing the current level of talented players who played together for years? It appears the allure of having CESA earn a national ranking has overtaken what should be the positive effects of youth sports; player development, team commitment, self-esteem, and quite simply a love for the sport.
