I don’t know if the kids knew. I’ll bet none of them knew or cared for the fact that there were geographic limits to team membership. I’ll bet these kids don’t know who the VP is, can’t name the capitol of Illinois, can’t name three neighboring states and don’t know the name of the national capitol.
Surely they have to put their addresses on the membership forms when they join the league?
I would think in a big city like Chicago, that a kid showing up at the wrong tryout might be fairly common. I would further think that they need medical releases and such, and can’t play before they turn them in and only then would they be assigned to a team.