Okay, I'll play. Statistically speaking as it were, I think a counter-argument can be made about the mega-schools like Eden Prairie or Wayzata with 3000+ students from which to draw their teams. Do we feel that's an advantage that should be corrected too? Would Lakeville be a top team with only one high school? Should Grand Rapids/Greenway with 1100 students demand that EP be split into three teams to level the playing field? Should girls hockey be for metro or large city teams only? This argument is the genesis of club hockey. I guess no one should tell the Roseau boys they can't compete.
However, this being girls hockey, it's a simple reality that not many of these co-ops and/or non-district entries would be able to consistently field viable numbers year-to-year without working together. Anyone involved in smaller youth associations will tell you all about the challenge. Girls hockey would simply cease to exist in many places, especially outstate and in the inner-city ring, were it not for co-ops.
As far as the new transfer rule, we should see a decrease in 9-12 transfers now that it's implemented. Not this year, as there was a rush under the 3-31-07 wire. I don't know if it can be suggested there is any trend present (and I don't know that I'd use QRF as the basis of my statistical arguement either
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If you want to kick the dead horse that is the public/private debate, go ahead, but it's far easier and cheaper to open enroll to a public than transfer to a private, so why is that not the "best deal" as you put it? You won't have to look far to see the benefactors of key transfers over the past decade in nearly every HS sport, many to the larger or usually more successful public school programs for the particular sport. People also tend to conveniently ignore many of the best private school players have always been students at those schools and were never part of the public school system. However, it's fair to say that many people seek what they might feel is a better environment for their kids, whether it's public or private, for sports or academics, so movement does occur. Though not always the top players. Many very good players who transfer find life is very different when they are surrounded by several others of similar ability and many top players are finding it's best to "stay home".
My opinion is that a co-op should be broken if it finds itself cutting from JV, i.e., more than 35-40 players for consecutive years. If a program is able to support one or more U14 teams plus JV, it's a large program indeed.
I believe if public HS coaches want to ensure the success of their team in the future, they will make it a large priority to volunteer a great deal of time and attention to their youth program and work closely with youth coaches to demand developmental excellence. The success of a public school lives and dies by the development of its youth program. Participation in a sport with such a small base is also very cyclical, and it has roots in area demographics and economics as much as anything else.