The Pay-to-Play Model Has Broken Youth Sports

$10k+ a year club programs are a specific product offering a specific potential outcome not related to recouping your investment or NIL. They offer access to D2 and D1 college play. Not every family wants this product nor can they afford it.

This does not preclude the existence of regional and local tournament only clubs that don't have the staffing overhead and travel requirements of nationally competitive clubs. These regional/local clubs sell a different product, one not related to D1 recruiting.

I personally feel that there are more opportunities for kids to (continue to) play today than there were a generation ago. When I was young organized sports (outside of school) ended at middle school unless you played on a national team. Sure the national team is way more expensive today but that does not mean that there are not opportunities to play at other levels with clubs offering a different product.