Video is one of the most essential components of your recruiting process. Without video, college coaches could only see a limited number of student-athletes at the recruiting events they choose to attend. With video, college coaches can evaluate a student-athlete from the comfort of their own office or home.
While recruiting events are still extremely important, video has become essential in the recruiting process. Some coaches won’t even talk to you until they have seen you play in person or on video. While less common, it is not unheard of for college coaches to extend offers to student-athletes after only seeing their video online.
Video allows every coach in the country to see you play, no matter where you live or which events you attend that year. This is why we encourage student-athletes to post the best video possible for college coaches to see.
What Type of Videos Do College Coaches Want to See?
Highlight reels, skills videos, and full game footage are the three main types of videos that a college coach wants to see. Depending on your sport and the preference of the college coach, college coaches may only want to see one type or all three.
With your SportsRecruits profile, you can upload an unlimited amount of video. You should be adding new videos every club and high school season. This way, college coaches can see your continuous development as an athlete over time.
Showcasing Your Best Clips with SportsRecruits Playlists
A highlight reel is a concise collection of live-action footage that showcases your best plays. While the concept of a "highlight reel" is still vital for recruiting, the way you build and share those highlights has evolved. SportsRecruits Playlists are now the primary way to organize and present your clips to college coaches.
The ability to tag what skills you are showcasing in each clip makes it easy for college coaches to filter to the specific plays they need to evaluate your talent. In addition to having time specific playlists recapping specific seasons or events, student-athletes can create a Pinned Playlist that should act a career-long highlight reel.
What Are the Differences Between a Highlight Reel and Skills Video?
A highlight reel consists of live footage from a game or match. With a highlight reel, college coaches will expect to see a variety of skills in a live play setting. This type of video is short and concise and only consists of your best clips.
A skills video is a closer look at your technique and is strictly practice footage. Skills videos show you doing the same skill multiple times in a row and then move on to showing another skill multiple times in a row. When you are filming a skills video, it is essential that you get the right angle for the coach to see your technique.
Both of these videos are important to have on your SportsRecruits profile. College coaches are 20 times more likely to view a student-athlete’s profile if the profile has video.
Creating an Effective Highlight Reel
What Types of Clips Should I Include in My Highlight Reel?
Your highlight reel is a chance for a coach to see all of your skills as an athlete. Make sure to show a variety of skills rather than the same one repeatedly.
As you sort through your raw footage, we recommend using a "5-star system." Rate all of your clips from 1 to 5 stars, where 5-star is your absolute best.
When building highlight reels or SportsRecruits Playlists, you should only include 4 and 5-star clips to ensure coaches are seeing your top highlights.
How Long Should A Highlight Video Be?
A highlight reel should only consist of your best clips. College coaches want to watch a video that is short and to the point. They do not have the time to watch a 7-minute highlight reel.
We recommend having a highlight reel that is between 3-4 mins. This will likely be anywhere from 15 to 20 clips.
How Do I Order My Clips in a Highlight Reel?
You should always put your best clips at the very beginning. Because college coaches review thousands of athletes, your first 5 plays must capture their attention immediately to encourage them to keep watching.
This is why we recommend using the Pinned Playlist feature to lock your career-best highlights at the top of your profile.
Where Can I Find Footage For My Highlight Reel?
High school and club teams often film games for their athletes. Find out where that video is posted (e.g., YouTube, Hudl, etc.) and how to access it.
If no one is filming, a family member can capture the game using a smart device. We recommend filming from an elevated surface to ensure the full play is visible.
As long as you capture the plays clearly and coaches can see where you are on the field or court, your footage will be effective!
How Can I Share My Videos with College Coaches?
Once you have video for college coaches to view, make sure you add it to your SportsRecruits profile for college coaches to view easily. Remember, you are able to upload an unlimited number of videos and create clips using the Playlists feature right on SportsRecruits.
Once you add video to your profile, you should be messaging college coaches about your new video. You must be proactive when you add new footage and not simply waiting for college coaches to stumble across your footage. Bring the exposure to you!
With the SportsRecruits Messaging System, you can email any college coach directly. Every message you send from the Messaging System has an embedded link that takes the college coach directly to your SportsRecruits profile. When a college coach clicks that link, you will be notified in real-time which program is viewing your video, profile, or transcripts.