A simple answer to the "watered down" question is...Who Cares!!! After reading the post from Meghan wanting to help out all the girls in her area and Ohio, I will never have a negative comment about all the teams that are in Ohio.
It took a young lady who is actually playing this sport to remind us of why we are here as adults. She is our ambassador and our trainer in this. We should be ashamed of ourselves for complaining about how many Ohio girls are not "elite" enough while Meghan is trying to get every girl in the state to get on that field and play. They may never get that D-1 scholarship to play, but they will have a better chance to be healthy, have fun, socialize with people from all over, become disciplined in their future. Any girl on a field in the state of Ohio will have my support and respect.
To some of you-I am amazed that you forgot about the real reason that we are here. Not for the distinction of saying that my travel team has this many signed to colleges, but for the chance to make a positive impact on a young athlete and show them more than the game, but how to be adults.
My team doesn't have elite, premier, showcase, etc after it, but what you can guarantee seeing in my group of girls is teamwork, pride, discipline, love of a game, compassion, critical thinking skills, ability to adjust to different situations, etc. This is my definition of Elite.