Might be true but GA is starting to give its top clubs two teams.
I doubt DPL performance has much to do with giving CitySC DPL GA event status.
What's probably more important is GA team performance and club ability to field a second GA team. (Ie number of players playing.) Traditionally City has always had a 1st 2nd 3rd and sometimes 4th competitive team. They also have rec teams and affiliates like San Marcos + Temecula to pull players from.
Aside from the Nationals and TopHat, what GA clubs are getting a second team? Those two clubs have a much different soccer landscape than the Southwest.
Nationals has 15 locations (basically 15 different affiliates; each area has its own “Club Manager”), spanning 9 counties (around the Detroit area), with 280 Teams.
TopHat is in Atlanta, where most of the population (6M+) is for the entire State of Georgia. I could not figure out how many teams they have, or if they have any affiliate clubs in the area. I've spent time in Atlanta and the Gulf Coast. Once you are outside the Atlanta area, there isn't much population until you hit the Coast (Gulf or Atlantic). So it is not surprising that the only GA club in the area has two teams; there are not many other options with all the other competitive clubs in Atlanta going ECNL.
City has about 60 teams, with the majority playing Flight 2 and 3 in Socal League, spanning Carlsbad, San Marcos, and Temecula. In an area with lots of competitive club options for GA.
I just don't see any performance, logistical, population/distance, or club size reason for City DPL to be given GA access over West Coast, Albion, LA Surf, Del Sol. Or for City to be given a 2nd GA team. All of those organizations are similar to City in the GA performance aspects of the Club as a whole. So if it is not DPL or GA performance driven what else could it be?
As a side note. Not only is the Force scenario fishy. East County Surf was denied entry into the GA as well. Here you have a club with 75+ competitive teams, appropriate facilities for Elite League play, licenced Coaching Staff, doing well in the E64 League, with most of the top East County players traveling to other top clubs in SD. I know for a fact that there are former East County players on the First and Second teams at Albion, Force, SD Surf, Sharks, and Rebels. If EC Surf was admitted to the GA or ECNL, all those players (already playing in ECNL, GA, ECRL, and DPL) would likely stay local, and combined with the existing E64 players would immediately create a top program in any league.
I'm not trying to hate on City. I wish them continued success, and I hope the program grows. I just don't see the logic in creating a monopoly scenario in the local scene when it is not needed. There are a ton of great players to build teams with in San Diego. Why limit the amount of clubs in the league, when the area can support GA and ECNL growth? The answer will be related to money, not sport development.
