I'm responding without reading the 9 pages of comments so I may be repeating people, but I think the issue is with the parents who do step up.Reading posts about people commenting what is happening to rec programs and school programs, where are the parents.
Without parents stepping up rec ball and school ball is falling to the wayside.
Then reading Posts people commenting about players being left behind.
All those dads who used to be the much-needed rec coaches are now the dads who decided to start a crappy travel team because their DD was "too good" for the local rec league and because of whatever reason makes him sleep better at night, she wasn't selected for any of the legit travel teams in their area.
Now, it is true that the daughters of coaches are often among the better players, but those aren't the girls getting left behind. It's the girls who aren't good enough for/don't want to play on travel teams. It's the girls without the support system required to work at home (it's not easy to work on hitting by yourself when you can't afford a bat, a tee, a net; when you don't have the space at home or a backyard to speak of; when you aren't allowed to go to the park by yourself). It's the girls you didn't consider at all in your post, which is evidence in itself that they're being left behind. Out of sight, out of mind.
I've ruffled feathers before when talking about privilege, but these discussions always show who doesn't recognize their own privilege. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I had many of the same advantages people here have. But it's really important to understand those advantages if you want to understand how children without those advantages may not be afforded the same opportunities. It's awfully hard for a young girl to dedicate herself to softball when she's never had any place to learn and play the sport.