The best player I ever competed against only went to high school in the AM, & in the afternoon his mom drove him 3 hours to play/practice w/ the state's best club team. They spent summers in Europe so he could train w/ coaches/teams there.
The amount of money & time this must've cost is staggering.
Another tie where the players played their hearts out the entire game.
Another tie where the players played their hearts out the entire game.
Video
This tournament so far has had quite a few ties, but very few of those games felt like the teams were playing for a tie.