It’s always been a labor of love for Kris Linderman.

Ever since he and co-founder Dave Talbot came up with the idea for a NY/PA Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase back in 2016, the all-star matchup has consumed his life.

“I get 200 hours of vacation (five weeks) every year,” said the long-time U.S. Postal Service employee, “but I can’t tell you when I last took a vacation. I’ve used those days to promote the Showcase.”

And come Saturday, his and Talbot’s dream will stage its third renewal.

After 2017’s inaugural at St. Bonaventure’s Marra Athletic Complex had only a boys game, last year a girls contest was added and both were played at Pitt-Bradford’s Kessel Athletic facility.

That same site will host this year’s event with the girls playing at 1 p.m. and the boys at 4 o’clock.

The 2018 event drew an estimated live crowd of 1,000 for each game — including 18 college coaches — and the Facebook livestream attracted some 5,000 viewers for all or part of the broadcast.

But Linderman’s efforts to promote the Showcase this spring haven’t been totally successful.

“I’ve been to 27 of the 28 schools involved,” he said, “the only one I still have to visit is Wellsville.

“But the response, in some cases, has been disappointing. I’ve gone to the schools with the (game) trophies and promotional items to get a picture with the players and administrators. However, several times the athletic directors at first didn’t want to be in the picture, saying, ‘Oh, it’s just soccer …’ I reminded them that they’re the athletic director of all sports, not just the ones they like.

“The support wasn’t what I expected it should be,” admitted Linderman, president of the Olean Soccer Club. “It didn’t get the reaction that football would … it was as if they saw soccer as the red-headed step-child.

“But what we’ve created has gained momentum for the sport and people can see the value in it.”

Linderman also wants to have a level playing field as the first three games have been won by New York teams.

The New York squads come from 14 schools in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties: Allegany-Limestone, Bolivar-Richburg, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Cuba-Rushford, Ellicottville, Fillmore, Franklinville, Genesee Valley, Hinsdale, Olean, Portville, Randolph, Salamanca and Wellsville.

Pennsylvania’s squads, however, come from McKean, Potter, Elk, Clearfield, Jefferson and Warren counties.

This year’s rosters draw from 13 schools: Bradford, Brockway, Coudersport, DuBois, DuBois C.C., Elk County Catholic, Kane, Northern Potter, Port Allegany, Ridgway, Smethport, St. Marys and Warren.

“We like the idea of New York vs. Pennsylvania,” Linderman maintained, “and we want to keep (the games) even. Granted, DuBois and Brockway are almost two hours away but we don’t want to turn our backs on the Pennsylvania schools. Brockway reminds me a lot of Allegany-Limestone … it’s a powerhouse program for both boys and girls.”

One unusual aspect of the Soccer Showcase is that it’s different from virtually any other high school all-star event in that it doesn’t charge admission.

“We’ve talked about it,” Linderman admitted, “but the two places we’ve held it (Marra and Kessel complexes), it’s impossible to corral people and sell tickets.

“We have barrels in the spectator area where people can make donations and we do charge $5 for the program.”

He added, “Dave and I and my father went out and sold ads for the program and we got 105 … which we thought was pretty good. We probably spend more time on the games than we do working our real jobs (Talbot is a night manager at BJ’s).”

They’re also developing a new revenue stream.

“We’ve had good luck marketing t-shirts and sweatshirts,” Linderman said. “And we’ll gradually get into hats, though with merchandise you have to be conscious of what you think you’ll sell.

“But it’s a good feeling and puts a smile on my face when I see somebody wearing a Soccer Showcase shirt … it’s like a walking advertisement for the games.”

And it’s clear, the Showcase, open to scholastic players grades 9-11, has gotten the attention of the Big 30 area’s top players.

“We had 150 kids try out for 88 spots,” Linderman said, “40 tried out for each of the 22-player boys teams, and 35 for each girls team.

“The only bad part is, we had to cut 62 players and you hate to do that. We’ve had kids who cried when they didn’t make the team because they felt they had let us down.”

But Linderman also had a success story.

“We had a player, Skyler Cline from Wellsville, who made the New York boys team last year, but we didn’t know much about him,” he said. “He’s a great midfielder but he said playing in (eastern) Allegany County and against a mostly out-of-area schedule people didn’t know much about him.

“But this year, his senior season, he made the Big 30 All-Star team and the Allegany County All-Stars and he’s back in the Showcase. He makes my point that you just have to keep working at what you want to accomplish and anything is possible if you work enough.”

(Chuck Pollock, a senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)