The info is out there but its all personal opinion for the most park so I will offer mine based on my sons experience playing 3 years going on 4. I'm just a parent will two kids who love soccer.
First of all there are pro/cons of "Organized club" soccer that can't be separated from ussda which is just a derivative of club soccer , see my post on page 1 for those:
http://www.socalsoccer.com/threads/da-non-da-pro-and-cons-checklist.4403/#post-126695
On top of those two of the biggest "Cons" of all club soccer is
#1) Pay to Play,
#2 Lack of Promotion/Regulation (CSL does attempt but its Political charged still... new clubs/teams moved straight the top brackets of they switch league for example.
#3 Closes Circuits and Leagues.
I'm going to include a neutral checklist also since my son has played club soccer since he was very young with 5 years of experience playing CSL, CRL, SCDSL, and other leagues prior to DA.
YMMV will vary and the ages we're talking about differ so the pro/cons change a bit younger to older
DA neutral
1) Coaching; maybe we've been lucky but my player has always had a "A or B" coach & they have all been good
2) Referees/ Officials: Same some claim top referees are in DA, haven't seen that or noticed any difference and most do both kinds of leagues
3) Short sided <=U12. The competition in my players day was more concentrated /w fewer leagues and he started playing 11x11 was he was U11, after playing short sided for so many years he wanted to go to bigger field really badly, felt he did all he could 5x5,7v7,9v9 or whatever. I can't really see a pro/con of short-sided in U12 for DA.
4) Style of Play: My kids teams have always been taught and played procession style so no different.
5) Home fields: Almost always had great turf for his home games DA or not.
DA pros:
1. Training is 4x a week with more focused training plans
2. Additional Resources made available to the teams: Additional trainers, conditioning, video reviews, water/power-aid at games, financial scholarships more readily available.
3. Player pool; DA attracts more players overall, easier to recruit, players for other teams can be promoted, moved or DP'd
4. Playing better competition; All is watered down now with so many leagues but for the teams #4-13 the competition is better for most teams compared to other leagues.
5. Away fields: normally better as the DA teams have access to better playing surfaces
6. Playing and training alongside top players
7. DA , college, and some pro scouts present at some games and showcases
8. Additional playing opportunities; Dallas Cup, Disney, Gen Adidas, International Tournaments; /wo DA my player most likely won't be attending these due to availability, resources, or home town club not being competitive enough to get in.
9. One game a weekend for the most part; breaks after two games consecutive with a rest day between for tournaments or showcases
10. Ten month season with a winter break
DA cons:
1. Costs: in terms of time required and $ it cost to pay and travel which can be large once you hit U15+
2. FIFA sub rules: No body else does this in the youth game and really does nothing but limit playing time for sub and sometimes results in potential injuries as coaches are out of subs late in the game(s)
3. Win at all costs; The #1 priority is to win games and everything else comes secondary including development and playing time.
4. 4-3-3. Telling everybody to play the same formation doesn't work all that well. All the teams know this so they train, and just use tactics to counter the 4-3-3 with a 3-5-2 of whatever when a team is good at 4-3-3
5. No HS soccer for most w/wo wavier. There is a built in break anyway so why not let the kids play?
6. No guest playing
7. Large rosters & keeping teams together and chemistry. Players coming and going each game and the combined age groups don't help
8. Competition for the Teams: #1-3 is very uneven overall. Top teams don't get enough consistent comp week in and week out and it shows when they go play the bigger or international tournaments
9. Politically charged selection process for the YNT, BNT, pools, camps, training center stuff. The director's pretty much decided who they want to send even when scouting reports may highly recommend or not certain players.
10. MLS calling the shots for the most part, some teams are spending $4 million on there academy a year will other not even a fraction of that so overall not good balance