So the parents of white kids who don't even suit up for their own HS team are underwriting the cost of the "Super Star X" kids from Omaha to travel the summer national circuit? And this is unfair to average-skilled black kids whose parents can't afford to be exploited like that? I think I'm following this.
Back in the old days, there was like ONE traveling summer team from Nebraska, and they were sponsored by some local business, and it was always a big deal who made it. I remember reading about how Gerry Gdowski figured out he wasn't cut out for basketball in college because he got selected to be on that team and got his lunch eaten by players from other places who were really, really good at basketball. It was kind of his wake-up call.
And then the teams evolved into, like, Bison-Runza Green and Gold or whatever. So, then there were two.
And then, about 20 years ago, some dad got his knickers in a twist because his son didn't get selected and so he went out and started his own team. (I knew the guy, so I know this is how it went down, so don't @ me.) And since then, like with everything else youth sports-related, the numbers just exploded because every kid's parents felt their child would fall behind his peers if he wasn't able to play summer ball. On a select team. Starting at age 5.
So, what wasn't even a thing just 20 years ago is now a requirement even for kids not good enough to play on their high school team and there's a perceived opportunity deprivation for kids whose parents can't afford the cost of having their kid do something on a summer team that, in all probability, he's not good enough to get recruited to do in college, certainly at the D1 level.
I feel sad for those kids. I feel ... relief ... for their parents.