As a "GM" of one of the smaller organizations, I too have come to the decision to stop sending our teams out of state for tournaments. This is the first summer in the last 6 years that I didnt take a team to the CM qualifier in Arizona. We have sent teams to OK State for tournaments the past several years as well, winning an 18u tourney last year, but I do not see us doing that again. I am considering doing an invitational type tournament next summer. Will the bigger organizations be willing to participate? Maybe. Maybe not. We played in a 18u invitational run by the Patriots this summer that turned out being very good for our kids. Played games at TCU and got some calls on several of our kids from college coaches following that weekend.
I don't know what the answer is, but we are one organization that is willing to do whatever it takes to lower the cost of playing ball. I don't know how our fees compare to others, and i don't really care, but we are constantly trying to help out. Our fees this summer were less than last summer.