Merch boosts from NT members are pretty large. Large enough that I'm sure without an NT, more managers than usual simply would not care about training Utopian players.
For a variety of reasons I can see not having an NT for the immediate future. But if the plan is to have an eventual NT, shouldn't the U21 system be in place? Next season will be the first that Utopian players, at the age of 21, will have had 3 years of training. Making it competitive with the rest of the world.
If there's an eventual NT, then the U21 infrastructure should be put in place. Volunteers be would needed to scout Utopia's own talent pool. And what better place to start assembling interested managers than for U21.
As for scheduling. Couldn't it rotate every season between which areas of the World it would compete against?