OLEAN, N.Y. — If there was any question about the viability of the New York-Pennsylvania Corporate Cup Soccer Showcase, it was answered last August when, with the calendar running out and the specter of Covid-19 only partially lifted, founders Kris Linderman and Dave Talbot staged their fourth renewal and first at Bradner Stadium.
Last year’s “crowd” was limited to two guests for each of the nearly 90 players and the obligatory masks and social distancing were mandatory.
But if that edition defied the odds, Sunday’s fifth annual was a testament to the game’s growth and success.
Competing with the tail-end of the Taste of Olean event at War Vets Park which filled the immediate parking areas, the Soccer Showcase, on a perfect afternoon, drew its largest-ever turnout for the girls game and witnesses were rewarded with a 4-3 Pennsylvania victory, its third in four tries.
Then, under the lights, in the boys’ match-up (final score and the all-time series standing)
WHEN IT was over, Talbot and Linderman mused on their event’s fifth anniversary.
“Since Year 1 to now, we have people coming back who played in the game wanting to help, assisting with walk-outs, player introductions and things of that nature,” Talbot said.
“We now have a larger draw from the 31 schools that are participating and while (tryout) numbers are about the same, they’re dispersed over different school districts.”
Meanwhile, Linderman has seen the Showcase evolve.
“It started happening last year,” he admitted, “this year we noticed people are more familiar with the name, with what our goal is, and those who have played in the game. There’s more awareness of (Sunday’s games) but it took five years for us to get here.”
YESTERDAY’S turnout, which likely drew the most-ever fans to the two games combined, raised the question whether Talbot and Linderman have considered charging admission.
“It’s something that we talked about but each year there’s been restrictions,” Talbot said. “When we played at St. Bonaventure (in the inaugural) there was no way to (funnel fans through an entrance gate) … and the same at Pitt-Bradford.
“Here at Bradner we actually have the opportunity to do that, but with Covid last year we didn’t charge and we decided not to do it this year, not being sure what the turnout would be with the restrictions only being lifted in June.”
But Linderman is more adamant.
“Our goal has been never to charge admission,” he said. “Some other games do, but that’s up to them. We could charge admission and raise another couple of thousand dollars, but the idea is not to make a profit … if we cover our costs, that’s our goal.”
SO WHAT have they learned over the Soccer Showcase’s five-year history?
“Expect the unexpected I would say,” Talbot said “… there are a lot of hoops to run through in the initial phases to get the game off the ground. Then, unlike the Big 30 Football Game (which uses graduated seniors only), there’s the ages of the kids. We just handed out two four-year plaques to Pennsylvania girls (Bradford’s Chloe Shaw and MacKenzie Lucas) who have been playing in this since they were freshmen and now they’re graduating and hopefully going on to play in college (about a quarter of the Showcase’s rosters will play collegiately from Div. I through III).”
He added, “We’ve also learned there’s a massive soccer community that’s untapped. We started with 18 teams and now we’re up to 31. We added Falconer this year and Curwensville last year and adding these littler towns has given their kids an opportunity to put their stamp on the game … their small area … and their state.”
Linderman’s lessons have been a bit different.
“I’ve learned that if you put in the work, things will happen,” he conceded, but added. “I’ve learned that there are people you can trust and some who are not trustworthy. And I’ve learned there are a lot of people who will support this game and the players from their school.”
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
