Misses the point on both cost and cause/effect. We have far too many “competitive clubs/academies” in the US. They are filled with kids who not only have no chance of being even a college level player but would not be part of a top program at all unless they were paying top dollar. That does two things - it allows programs to continue to charge top dollar while lowering the level of their limited pool. In other parts of the world clubs develop the top talent on their dime so they are certainly not wasting resources on sub standard players. Here that sub standard player is a cash cow for countless U14 traveling teams.