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    Recruiting Video Advice

    For those that have been down this road, or are currently on it, what recommendations would you make?

    Do it yourself vs. hiring someone?

    What do you showcase?

    How do you know what coaches look for?

    How long is too long for a video?

    Music or no music in the background?

    How often do you make one?

    Where do you film from?

    What type of camera is best?

    If you're doing it yourself how do you edit video?

    Do you make your son/daughter do the editing?

    #2
    Unless your kid is a keeper, forget highlight tapes and tape full games. Always try to show as much of the field as possible so coaches can see how your kid plays off other players. For keeper you should tape their warm up. That's all a lot of college coaches come to see. It will tell them basically everything they want to know.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Unless your kid is a keeper, forget highlight tapes and tape full games. Always try to show as much of the field as possible so coaches can see how your kid plays off other players. For keeper you should tape their warm up. That's all a lot of college coaches come to see. It will tell them basically everything they want to know.
      Does any coach have the time to wade through whole games?

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        Does any coach have the time to wade through whole games?
        They don’t need to. They all know how to watch game film. If they like what they see they’ll certainly watch more won’t they? If you just give them highlights they can’t really do that can they?

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          Does any coach have the time to wade through whole games?
          You shouldn’t be using film as the”bait” to create interest. No coach is really going to look at unsolicited film regardless of the content. Not enough hours in the day. Use film to cement interest after it has been expressed. Can take the place of them having to come watch your kid at some far flung tournament. Key advantage is you get to pick the game they see and don’t really run the risk of your kid laying an egg in the game they come to see. Always a risk.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            They don’t need to. They all know how to watch game film. If they like what they see they’ll certainly watch more won’t they? If you just give them highlights they can’t really do that can they?
            I've waded through a ton of game footage of my kid to identify clips for highlight videos. It's super tedious, and I LOVE my kid. No coach is doing that.

            Don't send full games unless you are asked to, or you're pretty far along in the recruiting process.

            Highlights are for the cold call emails and the first few follow up emails.

            Comment


              #7
              The advice by a friend-college coach was

              - 2-3 minutes maximum. It's called a highlight real for a reason. You'll need to run the camera a good deal to capture some good moments.
              - Try to show a variety, not just say a striker shooting goal after goal; dribbling, passing, assists etc. for a GK show a number of different things like passing to other players and rollouts, not just great saves
              - Don't bother with flashy graphics or obsess over music
              - Have a starting page with your key information on it (name, club, HS, GPA, size/weight). Literally like a one page power point

              If a coach wants to see more they will ask. Some coaches don't watch anything and will only watch you live. Many use their assistants to screen. It's good to have but don't go nuts.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                They don’t need to. They all know how to watch game film. If they like what they see they’ll certainly watch more won’t they? If you just give them highlights they can’t really do that can they?
                We've found that if they want more they ask for more. the highlight reel is to peak their interest, especially to get them interested in watching you at an upcoming showcase

                Comment


                  #9
                  Ever consider that the person who started the thread is in the video business? The whole premise here seems to be that you send a short video to college coaches to pique their interest, correct? It's supposedly the bait that will attract attention from college coaches. Think about that for a moment. Anyone who is in involved with a kid trying to get recruited soon learns that very few coaches actually open unsolicited emails and usually send them right to a junk folder so why would they invest significantly more time looking at an unsolicited video. How does that make any sense? It only makes sense if you make money creating the videos. The proper use of the video is for a college coach who has already seen your kid play and has expressed interest. In that instance more is definitely better.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    You don't need fancy equipment the quality of video is so good now. Same with editing. Kids can bang out a quality video in no time (and they should do it unless they're completely inept which is basically no teen these days). I know some teams have parents take turns videotaping and/or the team sets up a team Huddle account to share footage. Between team footage I did or other parents, as well my kid's HS team tapping maybe half the games (paid for by the booster club and posted on line) my kids had no trouble finding enough footage for a brief video.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Ever consider that the person who started the thread is in the video business? The whole premise here seems to be that you send a short video to college coaches to pique their interest, correct? It's supposedly the bait that will attract attention from college coaches. Think about that for a moment. Anyone who is in involved with a kid trying to get recruited soon learns that very few coaches actually open unsolicited emails and usually send them right to a junk folder so why would they invest significantly more time looking at an unsolicited video. How does that make any sense? It only makes sense if you make money creating the videos. The proper use of the video is for a college coach who has already seen your kid play and has expressed interest. In that instance more is definitely better.
                      Our experience was very different. While I can't say for certain if the highlight video was watched, almost every coach replied back to both my kids saying they'd come watch at upcoming showcases (and almost all showed up also, likely because my kids targeted the right programs). It does no harm to send and only has upside potential. In almost all cases coaches are going to watch you live multiple times before making an offer. This is just another element in a more complex process.

                      There certainly is no need to hire a costly service. Cameras don't cost a lot and you may already have one; make sure you have a tripod to keep it steady. I got a great tripod on Craigh's list for $20. i see a lot of parents using their phones but a decent video camera has better zooming

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        Ever consider that the person who started the thread is in the video business? The whole premise here seems to be that you send a short video to college coaches to pique their interest, correct? It's supposedly the bait that will attract attention from college coaches. Think about that for a moment. Anyone who is in involved with a kid trying to get recruited soon learns that very few coaches actually open unsolicited emails and usually send them right to a junk folder so why would they invest significantly more time looking at an unsolicited video. How does that make any sense? It only makes sense if you make money creating the videos. The proper use of the video is for a college coach who has already seen your kid play and has expressed interest. In that instance more is definitely better.
                        If you only email head coaches then I agree with the assessment bolded above. Do the leg work necessary to gather the email address of every coach/assistant/volunteer associated with the programs you are interested in. You'll be surprised by the number of replies you get that way. It's not easy to find all those emails but it can be done. You don't need recruiting services and you don't need video services if you have a modicum of technical ability.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          Our experience was very different. While I can't say for certain if the highlight video was watched, almost every coach replied back to both my kids saying they'd come watch at upcoming showcases (and almost all showed up also, likely because my kids targeted the right programs). It does no harm to send and only has upside potential. In almost all cases coaches are going to watch you live multiple times before making an offer. This is just another element in a more complex process.

                          There certainly is no need to hire a costly service. Cameras don't cost a lot and you may already have one; make sure you have a tripod to keep it steady. I got a great tripod on Craigh's list for $20. i see a lot of parents using their phones but a decent video camera has better zooming
                          All that you are doing is transplanting a video for going to a showcase. Sure it's less expensive but only if someone actually looks at the thing. If you work the process correctly and do your job targeting programs that should fit, you don't need to be mailing random coaches with unsolicited videos. That said, videos can be helpful sealing the deal. In that case I agree, more is better because then at that point the coach knows the player and is doing a more in depth level of scouting.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            All that you are doing is transplanting a video for going to a showcase. Sure it's less expensive but only if someone actually looks at the thing. If you work the process correctly and do your job targeting programs that should fit, you don't need to be mailing random coaches with unsolicited videos. That said, videos can be helpful sealing the deal. In that case I agree, more is better because then at that point the coach knows the player and is doing a more in depth level of scouting.
                            During the targeting phase of freshman year and potentially sophomore year a highlight video is a decent idea. After that there probably should be a reason to send video because introductions should have already happened.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Here is a list of recruiting tips I got from another website. The info isn't exactly current but the philosophy remains similar. (Breaking it up into 3 posts to fit under the 10,000 character post limit)

                              __________________________________________________


                              1. Players: Work hard on your academics. When you think you've done enough, work harder.

                              College coaches are looking for well-rounded young people who will not have difficulties being accepted by the college's admissions office and who will be contributing members of their squad on every level – athletic, emotional, social, mental, etc. Strong academic performance is an indicator to coaches that the player will fit that description. It suggests to the coaches that the player knows how to establish healthy priorities in their life, can set and reach goals, can manage their time effectively, etc.

                              College soccer programs only have a certain amount of scholarships they can offer, although since soccer is what is known as an "equivalency" sport, those scholarships can be spread out over more individuals than the number of available scholarships. Athletic aid will not always be available in the amounts you are hoping for and/or in the years you are hoping for. Working hard on your academics while you're in high school gives you flexibility when you're in the process of choosing the school you want to attend and at which you want to play soccer.

                              Our daughter has friends who are very good soccer players, have dreamed of playing at a D1 school for a long time, but won't be able to attend the school of their choice because there is not a full athletic ride available for them at that school and because 1) their families can't afford the tuition and 2) because their grades were not high enough for them to either be accepted by the school(s) they wanted to attend or be awarded enough academic (merit-based) aid for them to believe that, even with need-based aid added, they will be able to afford tuition.

                              Other friends will most likely play at a D1 school, but they are leaving the choice of which school to attend entirely up to which soccer program can offer them the most athletic aid. Since the point of this process is for our sons and daughters to receive the best education possible, this doesn't seem like the best strategy.

                              Strong academics can give you enormous flexibility in the recruiting process because you don't have to depend entirely on the amount of athletic aid offered as the determining factor in choosing which school you are going to attend. Our daughter will be playing soccer at the school of her dreams (and at a school which we believe will provide her with a wonderful academic experience) because she worked hard on her academics.

                              2. Parents: Resist the temptation to view the amount of your child's athletic award as an issue of prestige. For parents, there is quite a bit of emotion wrapped up in the recruiting process. You naturally want to see your child succeed. You've sacrificed quite a bit to help your child succeed in their soccer life – you've spent countless weekends in other towns at soccer tournaments, you've lived in hotels, eaten at restaurants, etc. You've paid enough money over the years for club soccer fees, for equipment, for hotel stays, etc. to fund your child's college education (but did so because of your child's love for the sport). Now, it's tempting to see the amount of your child's athletic award as justification for all the time and money you've invested. But take a step back and remember that the point of this process is ultimately to allow your child to receive the best education they can. That may or may not mean that your child receives a large athletic award.

                              3. Parents: Strive to maintain a stable family life. It was interesting to hear one coach we met with talk very pointedly about the fact that they recruit the whole family – that they are looking for stable families who won’t cause problems once their child has been recruited.

                              4. Players: Don't be involved in the wrong groups of friends. Be careful what goes on your Facebook and Twitter pages. Pay attention to not only what you put on your Facebook wall, but to what others may post about you that ends up on your wall.

                              5. Be a better player. When you think you're good enough - work harder, learn more.

                              6. Don't immediately dismiss the value of loyalty to your club – in other words, don't always be looking for a better opportunity. Here's a quote from Claudio Reyna, US Soccer Youth Technical Director: "One of the problems [with American youth soccer] is that we have kids bouncing around all over the place. Kids frequently switch youth clubs, join travel teams, transfer to other high schools, all in pursuit of better soccer. (But) that turnover needs to calm down a little bit. It's better for the development of a kid if they're at one place in the same sort of comfortable environment, rather than move around."

                              We were told for years that if we wanted our daughter to be exposed to college coaches, we would have to switch clubs because the club our daughter played for was not good enough – her team didn't play in Surf Cup, Disney, Las Vegas Showcase, etc., etc. We were approached by coaches, team managers, and parents from other clubs from the time our daughter was 12 years old until now. One time, we were even accosted on the sidelines by a parent of another team who told us in no uncertain terms that we were harming our child's future by not switching clubs and coming to play for his daughter's team (funny, how no one ever told us that we should switch clubs but not to their child's club – there are a lot of ulterior motives packed into this sort of thing).

                              Throughout this process, we could definitely see certain advantages for our daughter if she were to play for a different club, but we raised her to keep her commitments. Before this past season, she was strongly recruited by three different teams – all of which were arguably stronger than the club she played for. She had been quite frustrated during the previous season, and it would have been easy for her to switch teams because of that. But she had already made a commitment to her current club to continue to play for them. As her mom and dad, we were proud of her when she made a choice based on principle (to keep her commitment) rather than her emotions (to play on a more successful team that would have been less frustrating).

                              As her parents, we thought long and hard about whether or not encouraging her to keep her commitment to her current club might be damaging to her future soccer prospects. We are a family of strong Christian faith and in the end, we relied on a piece of ancient wisdom from the Psalms which speaks of the one "who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind" and says that the one who does this "will never be shaken." (Psalm 15). We decided as a family that the oath our daughter made (her commitment) to her soccer club might end up "hurting" her in the short-term (by hindering her from playing at the highest level in college). But we believed that the character she was building would never be shaken, and in the end, that's far more important to us than her soccer career.

                              In the end, her soccer club which supposedly was "not good enough" was instrumental in guiding us through the maze of the college recruiting process. They spent hours with us on numerous occasions, walking us through the process, giving us advice, listening to our concerns, etc. – always with our daughter's best interests at heart (not just in terms of soccer, but in her overall development as a person – academic, social, emotional, athletic, etc.). They acted as a liaison between the coaches at our daughter's dream school and our family. The result: our daughter will be playing at a nationally-ranked D1 school. So apparently, it wasn't necessary to switch clubs.

                              One possible reason for switching clubs which someone pointed out to me after reading my notes was if your current club doesn't know much about the college recruiting process. That seems legitimate to me, but I do believe that as much as possible, such a parting of ways should be transparent and amicable.

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