I'm really enjoying the the read on the swim teams and am happy to see that all of kid's sports are a mess and not just the ones my kids participated in. I can tell that you all are in it for the right reasons and your children will be better because of it.
The sad thing is that so many people put a focus on succeeding in sports over the benefits of learning how to work hard and be part of a team. Realistically, there is no career path for almost all of these kids within their selected sport and it makes me sad to see that this attitude exists. Even if you are able to play a sport in college, there is a good chance that you won't play a lot , especially in your first year or two. I have seen so many of my children's friends go to a school for a sport and lose interest after freshman year.
Every time I hear you all talk about the snootiness of some of the upper clubs, I think of one of my favorite episodes of an older British comedy I'm posting a pic from. FOr those of you who remember the show, enjoy....."I've got a Porsche"