You're right, it has been the practice of ALL these organizations but I know the HB coaches personally and they do not buy into the large money grab teams. They will have oversight into the entire grade and will practice as a grade. Maybe they are starting to do things the right way. I will tell you that my son played on the HB last year and the experience was amazing for every player. I can tell you first hand; that's where you want you kid to tryout.
Sounds like you know better than I do, I was just going off my prior experience with LI Express but it sounds like you have first hand knowledge. I will say this, if my son were in the top 20 out of 45 kids who all practiced together I would be pissed they didnt do a straight A and B team. I dont see any benefit to what you are describing for the better kids only for the B kids who get to train with better kids. The reason my son plays club ball is because I want him to play with the best possible kids around. I would not want to spend $2,000+ to be one of 45 kids. Basically they are going to take everyone who trys out, assuming 45 kids try out?????? Anyway, good luck with it. At the end of the day with LI Express or any other team its about winning and they will ultimately take the top 22 kids to go win, maybe not when they are 9 years old, but definately when they are 10 or 11. as an aside, 91 said the same thing last year about their north and south teams (2023), funny thing about those "equal" teams was Spallina's team practiced and played 10 times more than the other team and was 10 times better.
I don't know about 10 times better. They played each other a bunch of times over the summer. 1st game against each other was a blowout. Last game of the summer was only a 2 or 3 goal game. The South team didn't start practicing until April. Once again, it's all about what the coach wants to invest in the team and how many practices he wants to run. The clubs are there to support the coaches. Some coaches live and breath lacrosse, some have other commitments.
