When marketing yourself to college coaches, sending a highlight or recruiting video can be the most effective way to stand out. Online recruiting profiles that contain highlight videos will be viewed much more often than profiles that do not have a highlight video. Thus, video creation and quality of the video can be a crucial factor in getting you recruited. Coaches receive thousands of emails from potential athletes, so creating effective and eye-catching highlights can get you to the next step in the recruiting process.
Make sure your recruiting video is good quality
Nothing spoils a potentially good recruiting video more than poorly captured footage. If it is difficult to watch, then it is almost impossible to evaluate, and the coach turns it off. Make sure your entire video is shot on a steady platform (tripod, etc). For sports like football, using an HD end zone camera system can be make a huge difference with the quality and angle of the video. From there, if you need with editing your highlights, there are many professional companies and DIY software systems that will allow you to get it done.
Use spot shadows or arrows
Make it easy to identify you. Use a dotted shadow and/or freeze tape before each game and highlight yourself with an arrow, etc. As a rule of thumb, it should always be very easy to identify you in the highlight. That said, just to be sure, you need to use identifiers (like arrows, etc) so there is no confusion. Most coaches expect spot shadows to appear in videos now. Using these identifiers in the video are most effective when your highlights are shot from a high-angle video tower or end zone camera system. End zone cameras, like Hi Rise Camera, deliver high-quality footage from the best vantage points allowing coaches and players to see the full picture of formations.
Get high-quality videos
The game film your team or coaches use to break down games/matches should be good enough to use. If you need to shoot video footage yourself, buy a good camera, and learn how to shoot high-quality video from the best high-angle available. If you would rather not purchase video equipment to shoot your own footage, no worries. There are video companies that will provide a full-service by showing up to record your games and also create your highlights. That said, these companies can be a bit pricey, so it will depend on your budget
The recruiting videos serve one purpose – to showcase your skills and talent to the college coaches. This is one of the first steps of the coach getting to know you and decide if they would like to pursue you as a recruit. Sending a high-quality video is a necessary investment and can be the start of a successful recruiting process and college career. Make sure you have a good camera and game plan for creating a great recruiting video.
