It will never happen while CSL uses pro/rel to push a U9 coach to play kickball. Never. There are so many youngers coaches that are absolutely disgusted with pro/rel. Maybe some kind of modified system where a team that wins X% of their games can only play silver or higher, but the current system is irreparably broken. That is the division and that's what needs to be fixed first.
Since we as a country don't have accurate contact tracing it's impossible to say either way; however, we are seeing the start of the second wave. Daily cases in places like Indiana and Minnesota are nearly as high as in Florida. Personally I think it's safe to move to phase 2 of the return-to-play program; let teams practice closely and test the kids on a regular basis to see if there is community spread inside the team.
I think this is a chance for CSL and SCDSL to find a new model. The "Elite" leagues of ECNL, MLS Next, GAL, etc have changed things dramatically for "local" clubs. These 2 leagues need to figure out a way to adapt. The clubs that formed SCDSL (for the most part) are the clubs that have their top teams in the "Elite" leagues. They dont care as much about SCDSL as they used to. So Cal needs a shift to keep up with the times.
I've proposed something like this in the past, but now is the time to figure it out.
You have 1 So Cal league with 6 geographies-
- Surf Cup/Oceanside Division for teams in San Diego
- Great Park Division for OC teams
- Silverlakes Division for East County Teams
- Long Beach/South LA (is there a field complex there to use? Maybe play in at Dignity Health Park in Carson)
- The Valley - Is Lancaster drive-able?
- The Desert - Somewhere in Palm Springs
Within each geographic division - you have 3 flights. The season starts with a 3 game "Showcase" where teams self seed into the division they think they belong in (no guest players allowed). After these 3 games, teams are seeded according to their performance over these 3 games. (Even have a Cal-South rep walking around to make sure teams aren't sandbagging by winning a game by 2 but playing keep away for 70 minutes).
During the season, any team that wins or loses by 7 goals, is immediately moved up/down a division.
Have a 10 game season where you play teams within your geography and division.
Then 3 weeks of inter-league play where you play other geographies, but that are your same flight- 2 games per weekend for 3 weeks.
Finish it up with State Cup "luck of the draw" for all teams across all division - 1 big tournament without divisions.