I would agree with much of what you say here. I just take issue that we’re so loose with the grades.

Maybe it’s:

A1 - 20 teams that could win PGF/Alliance. Agree.

A2 - 60 teams that can be competitive in any of the big dog tournaments in their best pools. Agree.

But if those 80 are in the A category, the Denisons, Wascos, NLL, etc. are Bs at best - some certainly C. Those 80 would consistently run rule all but 3 or 4 teams in all of Illinois.

(This means we also have hundreds of Ds and Fs, in Illinois alone. Maybe thousands in the country.)

You could use this same logic in college. P4 is not all the same. The SEC as a conference is head and shoulders above the Big 12, and in a different stratosphere from a mid major. Kudos to any kid who plays in college, and congrats to any kid who plays P4 - but even in those ~60 P4 programs there are huge differences.

I take issue with people who think there are more than a few As in the entire Midwest. That only works if you do the mental gymnastics of saying, “Well, they’re A… but there are three levels above them too”. That’s nuts, and not honest.

It’s a big sport, with incredible talent. Those kids in that top A1 level are light years ahead of the winner of some LP4U tournament in CP. I just don’t think most get it.