i imagine it will be difficult to build a consistent aaa program as long as every year a club must beg "permission" from caha to continue the program, and such permission may be withheld at a whim by a committee comprised of employees of competing clubs. the process is ludicrous. anointing jd and jk as the only clubs worthy of aaa was ludicrous. the arrogance has driven the majority of the best talent out of the state.
this discussion completely lacks any historical perspective regarding aaa in socal over the past 10-15 years. jd didn't even have aaa until 2012, when it bought ochc; jk was the second banana to lahc, which it took over in that same year. just before those mergers, there were five other clubs in socal that offered aaa, most of which had a history of moving kids to juniors and college, and success at nationals that neither the jd or jk have yet to match. how is it that these two clubs are now the only ones left? because they (and sharks) controlled the caha board, changed the rules to their own competitive advantage, while pushing a fable that there is room for only two aaa teams to justify kneecapping the other clubs. before the mergers, there were more aaa teams, having more success, from a pool of 40% fewer kids. fact.