So how many professional or top notch card counters has BJA turned out or think they have turned out? I am guessing very few. And how does BJA go about finding "recruits"? Do they advertise somewhere?
At times I too have thought that BJA (and others) were creating new card counters and that couldn't be a good thing for those of us that already do so seriously or professionally. But lately I come to think about it a little differently.
There aren't many people that pursue card counting today and stay with it for very long at a serious level. And the reason is if money is the driving force, then card counting isn't the answer. You can make more money doing other things in the advantage play arena. So to remain a card counter for any length of time, and there aren't many of us that do, it usually is about more than just money. To stick with card counting a player almost has to be obsessed with blackjack and winning by card counting and the small edge you get IF you do everything right. A player has to want to win that way. Because again, if it is just about winning and money, there are other more profitable, less variance avenues.
So I think the few players that have that special passion, would find what they need to know and learn one way or another, especially in this era of internet.
I think what occurs with BJA, is they find people, instead of people that have a passion for card counting finding them. And the people they find or recruit, are probably driven by money alone, because they don't have that passion. So when these players figure out how little advantage a good card counter plays to, and the variance involved to get that small edge, they move on to something else, either in or outside the arena of advantage play. And then a whole new crop or class will replace them. And 99%, maybe 99.9% of each of these classes will move on to something else in fairly short order. That small remainder with that special passion, they would have found what they needed to know somewhere else because they have that drive and passion.
So my short answer is I don't think BJA is having much effect.