I've mentioned before about the huge drop off with the "B" teams at the DA clubs ever since the birth year change/DA expansion. If you look at the 02/03 age groups in SCDSL & CSL, the non-DA teams for Surf, Albion, Pats, Strikers, Golden State, Aresenal, LAUFA, and etc have all been performing mediocre to very poor.
But looking at the standings, the '02 Albion Garton might end up being the one exception. Over the summer they looked just like all the other under-performing DA club "B" teams. But during the CSL season, they're now in the top half of the standings. What stuck out to me was they're tied for least goals allowed, so they seem to have a strong defense. But conversely, they're also tied for the worst goals scored. Which makes sense, at this age any forward worth their salt would have been picked up by the DA team.
Boca Juniors is clearly the class of this age group. I'm curious this weekend whether Albion Garton will be the first DA club "B" team to actually perform well or will Boca put them back to mediocrity. Someone mentioned in the '03 thread that Garton teams are known for good defense, but I think the lack of goal-scoring is going to be an issue when facing Boca. That said, October/November is when you start to see the coaches who actually developed their team. Teams that start to peak in the back half of the season are usually ones who had better development (assuming other things are relatively equal).