A few comments. First CF WILL announce before tryouts, so don't chase that false rumor.
Second, doing both GDA and ECNL, I have to concede that GDA's hubris has allowed it to backslide and allow ECNL to make the case that the leagues are equal.
Here are my top 6 hubris moments of the GDA year:
(1) GDA Greensboro showcase was 3 days over 4 days (Sat-Tues) requiring 2.5 days of missed school in March (REALLY!?!);
(2) for GDA nationals there will be a U17 camp meaning those kids won't play at nationals (are they serious!?!);
(3) CF 16/17 had a 2 weekend games in Fl last fall where 5 kids were in National Camp and so, only 12 kids on game rosters--and lost the second game to a lower table team (why not have block out days on schedule for camps?);
(4) substitution rules where a very large majority of college and club coaches think it is stupid;
(5) showcase results are put in the conference results--this is not apples/apples by any means and adversely impacts true conference play and
(6) Due to U17 world cup those kids (as TH knows) have played in less than 10 of the 25 games this year. Bottom line, for an entity having control over the schedule, it is either incredibly disorganized or just doeesn't care.