Are recruiting video services worth the $$$?
How useful are videos in the recruiting process?
How useful are videos in the recruiting process?
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Don't waste your money, most coaches thrown them away. Unless you are looking at school far away and the coach will not have the chance to see you play live. -
A lot of people say that the coaches throw them out. However, we've had a couple of coaches who have requested a video "for reference".Comment
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Anyone actually used one? What did you get?Comment
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I paid $250 to have a soccer coach video and create highlight clips from three of my games for my HS team. 2 players wound up playing at good D3 schools via these clips. I wouldn't spend a whole lot of money doing it but within reason and for certain situations they work. Combine it with a sports resume and follow up with the coach with a phone call and email. Keep the video short and sweet.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
Obviously at the big schools with scouting budgets etc this is not likely to work but for distant D1, or D2, D3 schools it will work if the coaches can't get out to see the games. I am assuming some coaches just chuck them away but if you have prepped them with phone calls, letters and emails and they have expressed interest they are not going to throw them away. If a coach chucks them after you and or your kid has made an outreach effort the coach is an idiot and you would not want to play for them anyway.
Plus they make for nice memories when your kid stops playing. In that way they are worth their weight in gold.Comment
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Some coaches look at them. Several coaches contacted our daughter after watching a dvd she sent them. It was a homemade video. Don't need to waste money getting anything done professionally.Comment
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videos are an essential part of the process.
professional though is hit or miss. use a pro if you are not good at video editing, or simply don't have time. the pro also needs to know what to film and then the editing has to know what to edit.
that's where a pro can be handy.
Whether to go with a pro or not really has a lot to do with how much time you have and how tech savvy you are.Comment
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Never used them and my kid got a scholly.Comment
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Guessing post is regarding these services @ NEFC event? http://collegesocceradvantage.net/videos
Is there a difference between recruitment and highlight films or is this a sales pitch?Comment
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Video services are offered at almost all soccer tournaments. The NEFC people claim they are soccer coaches so that the output is better from a soccer standpoint. The sample recruiting video looks pretty nice.Comment
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Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
I used a former D3 college coach. He knew what coaches were looking for and had video editing skills that I didn't. $250 is short money.Comment
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After we sent out videos, one D3 coach indicated, kind of rudely, that he didn't bother with videos. So, we didn't bother with him. Another D3 coach said he was impressed by the video, and as a result he watched our daughter at a tournament. She will be playing for him next year at an excellent academic institution. The video was worth it.Comment
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At what age would you consider making the video? Is waiting till Junior year too late for someone who is looking to play at a D3 school?Comment
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We used video extensively during my daughter's search and in her case they played a big role in helping her make the connection she was looking for. She had a relationship with an assistant at the school she chose but the head coach had not seen her play so they used the videos to show the head coach what she could do. This led to an invitation to their camp which resulted in her offer. I feel that the video's also helped in a number of similar instances where one coach had seen her play but others on the staff needed to do an evaluation. They really helped move the process along. I also would not underestimate their value in the initial approach to coaches, the thing is you can't expect them to fall all over themselves just because you sent them a video. I think you need to take on the mindset that if they help catch one coaches attention they are worth it.
The key to doing the videos is to capture what the coaches will need to see in order to do an evaulation. A simple highlight film probably will not be sufficient. Coaches typically want to see chunks of games rather than individual sequences. Camera angle and clarity are important. If they can't tell who your kid is or what they are doing the video isn't going to help much. Since my daughter is a keeper most coaches wanted to see her warm ups to evaluate her athleticism. With this in mind we also taped a number of training sessions as well as game footage.
One of the problems with working with video is how to distribute it to the coaches. What we did is use YouTube and later a web page to distribute them. This made them much easier to view and distribute. Whenever she was corresponding with a coach all she had to do was cut and paste the links to the videos in. It also allowed us to build up a library of games and training sessions so coaches could see her play under a wide array of circumstances.
I shot my daughter's videos myself and then edited them myself. The pro is that it didn't cost anything. The flip side is that it took a lot of time to do, you need to technical tools and knowledge to do it, and then I was never really happy with the end product. If you get someone who knows what they are doing I think spending the money is the way to go.Last edited by beentheredonethat; 03-24-2010, 11:13 AM.Comment
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I think having something in hand early in Junior Year is optimal. I did it in Sept of that year and sent stuff out during the players Junior Year. One of the players though was a Senior and the video wound up getting her invited to her college's camp. She made the team and played 4 years.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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