Both can be done. My daughter hooked up with a showcase team and they practiced on weekends and did the showcases. You just have to watch and make sure that you do not push it to hard. The child will always say more, more, if they think that is what will please the parent.
As far as recruiting goes, I do not think the showcases or the clubs have a corner on this market. I think clubs have done better because they have been better organized in their recruiting efforts, where in HS it is left up to the individual HS coach to do the work. It has been my experience that a few HS coaches have done well but most have not done anything to help recruit their players. My daughter was lucky she had several other HS coaches that helped her out, but not her HS coach. Market economics is the main reason for this discrepancy. Clubs need to get players recruited in order to compete with other clubs and to help draw players. The HS league has a monopoly on the players in it's district so has no need to help the player. Football is different because it is a revenue sport and therefore is a market driven sport for all the booster money.
