How do you handle favoritism in a small town?!?

I moved to this very small town 5 years ago, and I have noticed that favoritism, who you know, how much money you have, etc. plays a HUGE part in kids sports, school activities, town activities, etc.  Now, I'm not one of those mothers who thinks that my children are the best at everything they do and deserve to be the star all of the time.  Also I have seen it happen to other kids that aren't my own and I've heard other parents complaining about among themselves whilst sitting in the bleachers at games and practices.

This isn't just happening to "new" kids either.  My sister has lived in this town for years and her kids have always gone to school here.  My nephew is in high school and plays football and basketball.  He's a very good athlete, works hard, is at every practice, and just has more heart than any other boy on the team.  Ever since he was little, he has been this way.  Yet, he is ALWAYS passed over as a starter in lieu of one particular boy whose mother is a teacher in the school district, his father serves on the city counsel, and his grandfather was once mayor of the town.  So this boy is always the star.  He's a good athelete.  He's the quarterback and he's good.  However, he's also the punter and place kicker for the team as well.  No one else gets to even try to do it.  My nephew has proven that he can kick and has kicked in several games when the star was injured.  My nephew made every extra point, every field goal in every game.  Yet when the star came back, they took away kicking from my nephew.  My question is if the star is the quarterback, why does he need to be the kicker too especially when there is another boy who is just as good?  The same thing happens during basketball season, my nephew sits on the bench while the star (same kid) starts every game and rarely gets taken.  Plus the star's buddies all get preferential treatment as well because their parents are buddy/buddy with the star's parents.

When my son was playing sports in high school, I mouthed of A LOT about the favoritism which of course made the favoritism even worse because when you're a mother who doesn't conform, schmooze, and brown nose, you kid gets slighted even more.  My son, however, is like me and saw the unfairness and was very vocal about finally quitting the basketball team. 

Now it has trickled down to my daughter who is a very sweet 6th grader who is nice to everyone and wants to be liked by everyone.  She is an accomplished gymnast and has joined the cheerleading squad for 6th grade boys football.  She is very small and petite and so immediately was picked to be one of the flyers (the girls that get thrown up in the air and do stunts).  They picked three girls total to be flyers.  The coaches said the smallest girls were the flyers because they were easier to lift and toss.  The girls that were lifting my daughter were having trouble because they are young and not that strong yet.  So the coaches decided they should only have two flyers, but instead of keeping the two smallest girls as flyers.  They told my daughter she wasn't going to be a flyer anymore and kept a girl who is a head taller than my daughter and outweighs by 15 pounds.  When I asked the coach about this she told me how they didn't have enough strong girls to bases and so they could only have two flyers.  I then asked so why would you keep the bigger girl as a flyer if the strength of your bases are an issue?  Why wouldn't the two smallest girls continue to be flyers with the strongest bases.  Of course she tried to talk circles around me, but the fact is the bigger girl's mother and the coach are besties and their daughters are besties and the bigger girl is even spending the week with the coach while her parents are out of town.  The bigger girl's grandfather also used to be the superintendent of schools here in my town and when he retired, he donated money to build a performing arts stage at the high school that bears the family name. 

So am I imaging this favoritism?  I don't think so.  My daughter came home in tears from practice when she was taken off of being a flyer.  I sat her down and we talked about favoritism and unfairness in the world and no matter how big of a fit I throw, the coach is going to do what the coach wants to do.  I told her to just go and have fun and if she doesn't want to be on the squad anymore after the season is over, then she doesn't have to be. 

But darn it!  Something has to be done!  It's just not right!  I hate living in a society where it's who you know and whose butt you kiss!  I am so not a butt kisser!  It goes against every fiber of my being.  My husband says I have too much pride and that I shouldn't say anything and just let it be.  But I graduated high school 20 years ago and I'll be darned if I'm going allow grown women to behave like they have an exclusive little clique and the rest of us are outcasts!  Somebody has to call them out on their BS!  Am I right?