thomaspietras: I agree, begging is a bad habit I need to break! Please...I beg you to forgive me for doing...oh, never mind. [Smile]

Regarding statistics measuring high-level developmental aspects of a club versus end-level results, I agree that clubs like CRSA get shafted on this data. That's why I never use this to evaluate developmental clubs. However, it does seem to be valuable as a tool for clubs that advertise themselves as "elite" or "premier" and compete in the challenge and premier league. This is really part of the "theses"; if clubs are going to advertise themselves to players and parents as "elite", it would seem that they might want to know and understand these types of statistics. If an "elite" club does great for kids up through U14 but then can't offer premier play that's a fact that not only players and parents should be aware of but I'd think that the club would want to know it as well.

Regarding generalities, my sincere problem with generalities is it's hard to get anywhere with them. Everyone has an opinion and typically that opinion is biased in the direction that a person has an investment with or history involving. It gets old when someone says "my x is better than your y" and you've heard it the thousandth time; it's interesting however when someone gives reasons behind their opinion, and it's fascinating when those reasons are measurable facts that can be confirmed by anyone bothering to look. Of course, that's just my opinion -- and that and a dollar won't buy you a good bowl of kibble.

Thank you tremendously for the list...I really appreciate it. I'm going to go off and do some more research so I can add more to this conversation. And as always, thanks for taking the time to engage in the dialogue.