I don't believe they are in trouble. They certainly have to work harder than in previous years. It feels like people say this about DS every year. It wouldn't suprise me to see them in a different league next year.
I think they have major issues on the girls side.
To be seen and known in Phoenix means you have to have teams playing so people are aware of the club.
If you look at APL/ASL in ALL age groups combined they have exactly 1 team. That is a u12 team. And that team is in the 3rd division of APL/ASL.
If you look at Open league they have ZERO teams.
Think about that...in all the local leagues they have exactly 1 team. That is not how you market to the Valley.
I have watched them for years. They used to do very well when they were 1 of 2 ECNL teams in the Valley and the other (Sereno) was sitting around doing nothing. Kids FLOCKED to del Sol at that time.
When they got DA they were still top dog.
Those years are now a couple past them.
What are they selling? A 2nd tier national league. The best players will go ECNL in the Valley. That is a fact. Their 2 most recent recruiting classes show that lack of interest. To be honest in years past those entry level teams were always very STRONG. Now they are exceptionally weak.
Combine the above with basically no teams in the local leagues and you have a problem. Parents in the Valley don't see del Sol around at all. And when they look now they see uncompetitive teams in the GA (at the younger years...the years you pay attention to when thinking about moving your kid to a club).
They apparently didn't have enough players to even field a U13 DPL team.
That also shows a lack of interest by players/parent regarding the club.
Rising, Royals, Arsenal besides being in ECNL/ECRL all have multiple teams in APL/ASL/Open league. Parents and kids seem them playing around the Valley and know who those clubs are. Further those 3 clubs have fairly large rec programs. del Sol is also non existent in that area.
All those factors add up to bad news for del Sol.
They have not adapted well to the changing soccer environment in which they live.