You hit the nail on the head! Success in any sport depends on support from the community - whether that community be a town, county, church, or religious faith. And by support, I mean money, time, encouragement. The Notre Dame community doesn't really support bowling, so our bowling team isn't very good and very dependent on a student signing up who happens to be good at bowling. We love soccer, though, and throw a lot of support behind it. Rhea County is another example of a community that decided to throw time and resources behind their soccer community. Every year, they incrementally improve.
It's fascinating to me that some fans and some coaches think that the great equalizer is to just remove competition.The equalizer is community support.