GoldenGate
GOLD
There is no reason for any California team to really play outside of the State. The exception would only be for a national championship scenario, otherwise there is enough quality competition to meet development needs.
Wrong. Events like ECNL showcases present the best possible opportunity for over a hundred college coaches to evaluate the best talent throughout the country. Most colleges do not have the time or the budgets to repeatedly travel all over the country evaluating potential recruits, and there is no way they're coming to CA over and over again to watch two teams play each other when they can instead watch 20 top teams in the country one place over a single weekend, which is hugely helpful to everyone in the college recruiting process. In addition, traveling out of state occasionally can be fun for kids since there is a lot more to youth soccer than becoming a soccer drone practicing 4x a week and playing the same teams over and over again.
In reality, there is no need for any California team to play outside the state except for important reasons. Honestly, playing for a national championship is probably the stupidest reason of all. The concept of a kiddie national championship is a fake thing concocted to make daddies with low self esteem feel better about themselves.