No one can argue with what you posted in concept.

The Reality is that coaches, players, and especially parents buy into the performance halo that accompanies winning. Makes sense to me that top teams must consist of top players. Read the college roster bios and the annual signing announcements - if a players club team has earned accolades, it gets mentioned.

Serious question: Is there something a coach can take away about a player who doesn't play?

OP here, fair question. I asked him that question and his response was that he wants to decide for himself if the player is worthy. He doesn't want that decided for him by the club coach. All he wants to do is give a player a fair look but it's difficult if they don't play for whatever reason.

If your kid isn't playing during a showcase I would consider moving teams. My daughter's NPL team has done two showcases this year and playtime was equal. It has always been this way, and in fact last year she played with the ECNL team at a showcase and it was the same way. My D who wasn't even a member of the team played half the game.

Yup, and as someone who has spent years passing out pamphlets on the sidelines and occasionally engaging in some small talk with these coaches, for the most part they have no idea who is winning and frankly don't care. That's not to say they don't pay attention to how a player handles themselves in specific situations whether down or up it's more that they are watching specific players, not the game.

I think there's a few factors at play

- coaches aren't always the most organized and can easily forget (so the players need to be on top of them)
- some coaches are just dbags and have given up on certain kids
- some coaches care more about winning (in which case the club needs to be on top of him. Parents have a right to complain on this one)

Yet at the same time wins matter because if you do well at certain events you'll get into even better events next time

Another factor: If the team doesn't win, players might never make it to or back to a main field, where almost all the college coaches will be. Given that these college coaches supposedly don't care about who wins, you might think they would check the scores to see whether a team with a tie or close loss might well have players worth driving, say, 15 minutes from the main complex to see. Evidently, the vast majority of these coaches can't be bothered.

So winning there and then can matter a lot at a showcase. If players get roughly equal time and almost no one is around to see their games on a distant field, they hardly make a sound.

Prior to making any further comments, I think that the job of a coach at a showcase is to show the players.....all of them...otherwise don't bring all the players.

That said, the club also acts as a business...unfortunately.....the more wins, the more points, the better the ranking....the better the tournament seed......the more attention.....etc etc etc etc

Wins matter for sure, but League and tournament results are the primary drivers to where the team lands in a showcase and that happens before any field assignments. I think the bottom line is simple, in a showcase, once you are there, the coach is obligated to giving players an equal shot.

Spot on. Wins at a showcase don't matter. Wins during league play, state cup play matter a lot as to what showcases your team will be accepted to and what brackets the team will be placed in.

Top teams need to win to insure field placement, continued top competition and profits. There is going to be a bottom 1/2 or 1/3 of these rosters that may not get equal time. Players and parents in this situation have to understand their child will get less exposure and decide for themselves whether the quality of practices, team, coach and cache of playing at this level is acceptable. They will need to aim a bit lower than the top half of the roster soccer wise, and attend college clinics to insure they are fully evaluated. Playing for a top team will get a foot in the door, but the player will have to impress in these limited situations to seal the deal.

Medium and lower teams are a different situation. To have a shot a college at any level, your child better be playing the majority of the game, or if playing time is doled out equally, be clearly a dominant player in any minutes they play. And they have to be have targeted their colleges, opened a conversation with the coach, and proven they are an academic fit, to have even a slight chance the coach will accept an invite for a off site game or low level tournament. Again, college clinics and camps will be a huge help. But again, your child needs to arrive ready to play well and impress.

National team, regional team level talent, the top 4 or so at the couple very best local teams, and a handful of others, are the only players for whom a shot at a top 30-50 college program is a possibility. These players play heavy minutes, get plenty of chances to impress, and can use tournaments to find a college match without attending college clinics or camps, although college coaches often ask for them to attend to gauge their actual level of interest. But again, it is not an easy, foolproof process even for the top handful or so of local players each year.

College soccer placement is way more competitive than most players and families realize. Only in hindsight, after your kids have been through the process and are experiencing college, which is an entire other conversation, is it clear just how tough. Anyone that tells you otherwise probably has their own motivation to do so.

You evidently missed the simple point. If there are almost no coaches to showcase for because of relegation to a distant field or a "consolation" game, there will in reality be little showcasing. Field assignments aren't necessarily set in advance--namely, because making it to a finals game can't be established in advance.

Or maybe you're simply asserting an equal playing time sensibility, especially when traveling long distances. But that has nothing to do with the main purpose of a "showcase."

Pamphlets?
Are you a Jehovah's Witness?

A classic example for those who know what the pamphlets are all about to show you just how little the trolls that constantly want to attack these sorts of discussions actually know.

Yes it is obvious that some sharing their "perspective" have never even been to a high level showcase event so readers should be warned that most of what they are writing in this thread and others like it is seriously flawed if not down right incorrect.