Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When an event is described as a showcase, what does it mean?

Like what exactly does it include? Is it a training? A scrimmage?

Thanks!

the purpose of it is supposed to be that college coaches are watching your kid. Usually everyone gets more equal playing time. It's about the individual athlete not the team.

College soccer (men or women) is a non-revenue sport. That means that coaches have a very, very small travel budget. It's very hard for them to go outside of their driving limits to see a player. Showcases have evolved as a way for colleges outside of the top 10 programs to send their coaches or part time scouts to a single location and see multiple players from different areas all coming to one location in person instead of just on film, as well as validate coach recommendations. We're fortunate to live in an area with multiple colleges at various levels and many high level teams whether you believe in ECNL, GA, NL, EDP, whatever, so we get more visits to the area. Other areas outside major metro areas don't and showcases help solve that problem by pushing the cost to parents to take all their kids to a single location rather than 50 college coaches to 100 locations each.

+1. Well said and 100% spot on.

For parents that think college showcases are scams, time suck and a waste of time, then don’t go. The last time I checked, the U.S. is a free country and no one is forcing you to do anything.

They are a complete waste of time for lower brackets, losing teams and for boys---pre-Junior year in high school. I have a Senior now going to play in college next year. I can tell you that virtually nobody was looking at Sophomore boys this time of year--or even winter. The few exceptions are kids on National radar--the truly elite playing at professional academies.

My sophomore's team is doing two showcases this winter. One is very far away and I think a total waste of time and $$. The other one is at least driving distance (though far) so I consider it just like a regular tournament.

Fwiw, my Senior has D3 coaches that were still reaching out to him this Fall. And we know of so many D3 schools/boys that don't even commit until spring of Senior year.

For girls, it's different. Boys develop physically so much later that many colleges now view it as a waste until they see them at 17/18 years old. My son didn't even have his growth spurt until 16.

If you go to the MLS Next Flex tournament where the best players from around the country are competing all in one place, you'll clearly notice which games the college scouts are watching and not watching.

They aren't crowded around the U15 and U16 sidelines on their little stools.

Yep. That was my point. My Senior is on an MLSNext team. Younger one is on ECNL and I believe the showcases this year at U16 are a total waste (at least the ones that are very far away). The ones not too far- okay--it's a tournament.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When an event is described as a showcase, what does it mean?

Like what exactly does it include? Is it a training? A scrimmage?

Thanks!

the purpose of it is supposed to be that college coaches are watching your kid. Usually everyone gets more equal playing time. It's about the individual athlete not the team.

College soccer (men or women) is a non-revenue sport. That means that coaches have a very, very small travel budget. It's very hard for them to go outside of their driving limits to see a player. Showcases have evolved as a way for colleges outside of the top 10 programs to send their coaches or part time scouts to a single location and see multiple players from different areas all coming to one location in person instead of just on film, as well as validate coach recommendations. We're fortunate to live in an area with multiple colleges at various levels and many high level teams whether you believe in ECNL, GA, NL, EDP, whatever, so we get more visits to the area. Other areas outside major metro areas don't and showcases help solve that problem by pushing the cost to parents to take all their kids to a single location rather than 50 college coaches to 100 locations each.

+1. Well said and 100% spot on.

For parents that think college showcases are scams, time suck and a waste of time, then don’t go. The last time I checked, the U.S. is a free country and no one is forcing you to do anything.

They are a complete waste of time for lower brackets, losing teams and for boys---pre-Junior year in high school. I have a Senior now going to play in college next year. I can tell you that virtually nobody was looking at Sophomore boys this time of year--or even winter. The few exceptions are kids on National radar--the truly elite playing at professional academies.

My sophomore's team is doing two showcases this winter. One is very far away and I think a total waste of time and $$. The other one is at least driving distance (though far) so I consider it just like a regular tournament.

Fwiw, my Senior has D3 coaches that were still reaching out to him this Fall. And we know of so many D3 schools/boys that don't even commit until spring of Senior year.

For girls, it's different. Boys develop physically so much later that many colleges now view it as a waste until they see them at 17/18 years old. My son didn't even have his growth spurt until 16.

If you go to the MLS Next Flex tournament where the best players from around the country are competing all in one place, you'll clearly notice which games the college scouts are watching and not watching.

They aren't crowded around the U15 and U16 sidelines on their little stools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When an event is described as a showcase, what does it mean?

Like what exactly does it include? Is it a training? A scrimmage?

Thanks!

the purpose of it is supposed to be that college coaches are watching your kid. Usually everyone gets more equal playing time. It's about the individual athlete not the team.

College soccer (men or women) is a non-revenue sport. That means that coaches have a very, very small travel budget. It's very hard for them to go outside of their driving limits to see a player. Showcases have evolved as a way for colleges outside of the top 10 programs to send their coaches or part time scouts to a single location and see multiple players from different areas all coming to one location in person instead of just on film, as well as validate coach recommendations. We're fortunate to live in an area with multiple colleges at various levels and many high level teams whether you believe in ECNL, GA, NL, EDP, whatever, so we get more visits to the area. Other areas outside major metro areas don't and showcases help solve that problem by pushing the cost to parents to take all their kids to a single location rather than 50 college coaches to 100 locations each.

+1. Well said and 100% spot on.

For parents that think college showcases are scams, time suck and a waste of time, then don’t go. The last time I checked, the U.S. is a free country and no one is forcing you to do anything.

They are a complete waste of time for lower brackets, losing teams and for boys---pre-Junior year in high school. I have a Senior now going to play in college next year. I can tell you that virtually nobody was looking at Sophomore boys this time of year--or even winter. The few exceptions are kids on National radar--the truly elite playing at professional academies.

My sophomore's team is doing two showcases this winter. One is very far away and I think a total waste of time and $$. The other one is at least driving distance (though far) so I consider it just like a regular tournament.

Fwiw, my Senior has D3 coaches that were still reaching out to him this Fall. And we know of so many D3 schools/boys that don't even commit until spring of Senior year.

For girls, it's different. Boys develop physically so much later that many colleges now view it as a waste until they see them at 17/18 years old. My son didn't even have his growth spurt until 16.

ONE of the most ridiculous elements about showcases is a college coach or scout coming to watch, assess and judge a kid during his/her 4th game in 2 days when they're performing at 65-70% of their peak performance.

Starting with NCFC this month and ending with Virginia ECNL in May, we have six of these showcases to attend this season. Six. Total overkill in my opinion for U16.

Several key points (some of this has already been said.)

1) Very few college coaches come to younger player games.
2) Getting recruited to play college level soccer is not easy. Can be very expensive and time consuming. You will get invited to pay to attend a lot of camps but that does not mean coaches are the least bit interested in actually recruiting you.
3) Being a starting player on a top level team (eg ECNL) helps but is no guarantee.
4) Some get scholarships/partial scholarships but many use to get into an expensive school they want to get into without any direct financial gain eg Ivies and DIIIs.

Anonymous wrote:It is a hole that sports businesses try to trick you into throwing money down to feed your inflated view of your kids athletic abilities.

Let's be a little more accurate. There are some ID Soccer camps run by Nike etc that are a money grab, and unlikely to provide the players interested with an advantage. Some colleges have ID camps - that are truly a "try-out" and there are soccer showcases as others have noted that really do bring together soccer coaches and potential players. Obviously, families can decide how they want to spend their time and money but if you a have player that is interested in what might be available at the next level the showcases can be helpful. We found they could give a broad view of many colleges, while the college ID camps at specific schools of interest were the best way to really get to know the coaching staff, and get the exposure to a program. Its not just about an inflated view of your kids abilities, from our experience its about kids enjoying the sport and they don't want to stop playing. Perhaps they won't be the next Messi, but they aren't ready to give up their cleats.

Anonymous wrote:It is a hole that sports businesses try to trick you into throwing money down to feed your inflated view of your kids athletic abilities.

I mean ok I guess. For ECNL and to a lesser extent GA on the girls side they are a place where 200-300 college coaches go to watch and recruit. Not sure that is a trick.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When an event is described as a showcase, what does it mean?

Like what exactly does it include? Is it a training? A scrimmage?

Thanks!

the purpose of it is supposed to be that college coaches are watching your kid. Usually everyone gets more equal playing time. It's about the individual athlete not the team.

College soccer (men or women) is a non-revenue sport. That means that coaches have a very, very small travel budget. It's very hard for them to go outside of their driving limits to see a player. Showcases have evolved as a way for colleges outside of the top 10 programs to send their coaches or part time scouts to a single location and see multiple players from different areas all coming to one location in person instead of just on film, as well as validate coach recommendations. We're fortunate to live in an area with multiple colleges at various levels and many high level teams whether you believe in ECNL, GA, NL, EDP, whatever, so we get more visits to the area. Other areas outside major metro areas don't and showcases help solve that problem by pushing the cost to parents to take all their kids to a single location rather than 50 college coaches to 100 locations each.

+1. Well said and 100% spot on.

For parents that think college showcases are scams, time suck and a waste of time, then don’t go. The last time I checked, the U.S. is a free country and no one is forcing you to do anything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When an event is described as a showcase, what does it mean?

Like what exactly does it include? Is it a training? A scrimmage?

Thanks!

the purpose of it is supposed to be that college coaches are watching your kid. Usually everyone gets more equal playing time. It's about the individual athlete not the team.

College soccer (men or women) is a non-revenue sport. That means that coaches have a very, very small travel budget. It's very hard for them to go outside of their driving limits to see a player. Showcases have evolved as a way for colleges outside of the top 10 programs to send their coaches or part time scouts to a single location and see multiple players from different areas all coming to one location in person instead of just on film, as well as validate coach recommendations. We're fortunate to live in an area with multiple colleges at various levels and many high level teams whether you believe in ECNL, GA, NL, EDP, whatever, so we get more visits to the area. Other areas outside major metro areas don't and showcases help solve that problem by pushing the cost to parents to take all their kids to a single location rather than 50 college coaches to 100 locations each.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Showcases are an excuse by tournament organizers not to pay for medals/trophies but at the same time to attract more older teams because showcase infers college scouts will be attending/watching.

It's an "excuse" to have an event focused on people paying soccer.

There’s no excuse and/or reason for you to join and pay club soccer either.

Club soccer is one thing but paying for and travelling for meaningless games is a whole different level scamming parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Showcases are an excuse by tournament organizers not to pay for medals/trophies but at the same time to attract more older teams because showcase infers college scouts will be attending/watching.

It's an "excuse" to have an event focused on people paying soccer.

There’s no excuse and/or reason for you to join and pay club soccer either.

Anonymous wrote:Showcases are an excuse by tournament organizers not to pay for medals/trophies but at the same time to attract more older teams because showcase infers college scouts will be attending/watching.

It's an "excuse" to have an event focused on people paying soccer.

Anonymous wrote:By design they’re primarily for college recruiting and work well for the higher levels of play. Showcases make sense for HS age players. Showcases advertised for players below U15 are a sham. College coaches aren’t likely coming to see your U14 and below player.

They aren't coming to U15 games either. At U16 some players might get a sniff, especially late season, but they are mostly for U17/U18s.

By design they’re primarily for college recruiting and work well for the higher levels of play. Showcases make sense for HS age players. Showcases advertised for players below U15 are a sham. College coaches aren’t likely coming to see your U14 and below player.