Both of my kids are in a sports club. Peak season is the summer. We struggle through the winter for the highlight of the competitions in the summer. There are local qualifiers for national competitions and it's much easier to qualify if you are part of a team.
Teams are typically of 4. I have 2 kids. DC2 is always in the B team. I'd say he's average level for his age.. but he always gets put with younger / less skilled kids. He always does ok but the team never qualifies due to the overall team performance.
DC1 last year there was no team for her level so she had to enter as an individual and didn't qualify.. this year there is a team but they haven't picked her so she's an individual again..
The thing is it doesn't seem 'fair' who gets picked. Some of the manager etc have known each other since they were kids and their kids are friends with one another and it feels like a clique and it doesn't matter what we do we will never get 'in'. I've volunteered to help twice but my help is always politely declined. they are nice people but they don't want anything to change.
I managed a sports team myself for another sport and was very careful to rotate the team selection and not to favour my own kids.
I see this in several sports and it's a real shame as it puts families off.