A parenting observation.
If your kids is good at a sport, how do you help with that development? You could branch out to find better coaches, teams, etc. That means more travel and expense. You could branch up, and have the kid play against older kids. This is still local, but maybe risky as the kid will have a target on his back.
But by moving up, the ties formed may be closer as they are still based in community, whereas branching out is more transactional.