The other point to remember is that academy did not exist when the 8/03-8/02 Strikers won National Cup, there was no mandated academy style 4-3-3, they could do whatever they wanted. Whatever criticism some of you want to level at Roy, the system he employed maximized the strengths of his team (his speedy wingers) and it won.
It was just absolute nonsense to blast the Strikers for not following the DA system when there was no DA at the time.
Reading through this hot mess including what a former player parents said clearly, the vid, and what the younger team did recently seems pretty obvious:
The former 02/03 team was good & played a nice style but that wasn't good enough for somebody so they took on guest(s) players and changed their style to win, most refer to this as winning at all costs.
That 02/03' team won some tournaments that year but then the following year the remaining players drooped off when those guest(s) and other older players went elsewhere.
When you change to play to win and all costs, sacrifice a good development style, and don't have enough faith in your existing players people notice and those actions has ramifications.
The existing players lost development time and where left holding the bag when they reached the next level they struggled to play the formation, procession and passing style the league suggests.
Short term gains in soccer sometimes don't help players long to medium term but the kids are still young enough they should be able to adapt.
Once you see a pattern some parents may not trust the organization any longer. and that org may have trouble recruiting and retaining players and coaches and they simply move on.
Futsal is a good way to see if players are using skill to play or relying on athleticism. This is the story of youth soccer in the usa, we seems to be stuck in these hot messes year after year in youth soccer.
Hopefully we learn one of these days, there are no shortcuts and changing to win some tournaments at all costs doesn't matter much at these young ages.