From an AZ perspective. No way am I driving that distance to play DA when Vegas for example has ECNL. Believe me, we have parents contemplating moving from out of state for the new DA we added. I find it crazy to even think about that just for soccer. SoCal should have more talented players just based on population alone, compare 25M in SoCal to 4.5 in Metro PHX and you should produce more statistically speaking. I am a firm believer in if they are good enough they will be found whether it be DA,ECNL, or Club. But, you need a Coach who works for your kid, and you need that at all levels. I myself prefer ECNL, as DA has to many restrictions, It's to much and I don't have the next great national team player like most think they do. I have my kid and if she makes it to play in college that's great, but I'm not spending her college savings yet.