Here is our experience from last year. My son played 13u last year but he has a February birthday so he was trying out for the 12u team that would be 13u the following season or something like that. We did the local qualifier and 95% of the kids at the tryout were from one academy program. He was invited to the regional, but we declined. Everything about it screamed money grab to me. Shortly after the regional qualifier he got invited to Cary, NC even though we didn't even go to the regional. I thought that was pretty weak. You have kids who are paying money to go to the regional to advance and he was offered a spot without having to go through the same process. We declined to go to Cary, but we had a friend who went. No offense to that kid that went, but if they are taking him, they are taking just about anyone that is willing to pay the money. Fast forward a few months and there was a big 14u event the same weekend of the Team USA tryout in Cary. The top 14u kids didn't go to Cary, they were at the event in Florida. Guess what, most of the kids that were in Florida still made Team USA, even though they didn't attend any of the events. Now, at the end of the day, they picked the top kids for the team, but I think the process is broken and the program is nothing but a way to exploit the Team USA name and profit from it.