Thanks for the responses. I imagine that it's true that many kids are playing with their club team at that age. I wonder how many more kids would be playing soccer if it was an option though. I'm sure there are lots of kids that maybe don't have the opportunity or money for club soccer, or that might be coming from rec league programs and would be interested in playing for their school.
A junior high program might only be able to have enough players around higher population areas though I'd guess.
Club teams might look at it as competition, but I think there are kids out there who are never going to play club soccer, but that would play for their school. Which in turn would give some kids a couple more years of experience before varsity and help raise the level of play overall in Iowa.