ha - I should probably qualify that remark

The parents I have met at the highest levels (ECNL and DA and now MLS and GAL) seem to understand the system and the pyramid. They club hop in an opportunistic way, but they are not blinded by "our club won this many games or tournaments". They look at who is the coach, how many players are they taking, how much time is there to go around, how much training is there compared to games, etc.

The USSF and US Youth soccer had an opportunity to put their MRL league into an amazing position when the DA folded. Instead, they sat on their hands and eventually barfed out the "club v club" model which is really just a poor-man's platform for also-ran clubs that allows them to sell exclusivity to (here I go) UNSOPHISTICATED parents (maybe you are right!)

We need a legitimate pyramid. We need kids to "travel" locally until age U14. At that point, we can get into the true travel that comes with playing teams from other states.

The mega-clubs (Eclipse, Rush, Surf, etc.) gobble up the little, community based clubs with empty promises and that's where the system falls under its own weight. In Chicagoland, there were a ton of great little clubs that were eventually gobbled up in merger after merger that, ultimately, had the effect of helping to create B and C teams to subsidize the A team (A team travels to six tourneys and the B team does 1, etc.)

As for your last worry, I think Don Garber is counting on the fact that the other non-US talent exists so that he can keep selling new franchises. MLS=all about the $$