I'm flattered to have a devotee who's analyzed my entire body of work, but what’s your point? It's wrong to defend the GDA for the few things it does right if I’m going to criticize the many things it does wrong?
The fact is the GDA could have been a success, but USSF couldn't get out of its own way with its many stupid rules and decisions, along with its obstinate refusal to listen to reason. I applaud your "glass is 1/12th full" devotion, but no amount of positive thinking will save the GDA at this point regardless of how you rationalize that paying $1,200 or so for your daughter to get altitude sickness playing in the snow will be a neat challenge for her and everyone else's daughters. At least one age group for an entire GDA division (and potentially others) is going to quit mid-season in a matter of weeks unless USSF gets its s**t together right now. When that happens, the only thing left for USSF will be to start negotiating terms of surrender to the ECNL.