The goal of any highlight video is to showcase all of your skills. This is your opportunity to get yourself in front of college recruiting services and give them an unbiased look at your athletic abilities. More often than not, an incredible athlete highlight video can be the difference between signing on or not making the team. So, if you’re ready to do what it takes to impress the athletic scouts and get recruited, keep reading to learn how to pick the right plays for your highlight video:
1. Start Filming Early
It’s never too early to start putting together your recruitment video. Naturally, you won’t want university recruiters to watch clips from the beginning stages of your career, but you will want to start getting used to being filmed while playing as soon as your freshman year. Why? Because this will ensure you know exactly how to showcase your best moves on camera. Once you start constructing the actual highlight reel, it is advised to use shots from the end of your junior year into your last season. As long as your recruitment video shows varsity-level competition, it is a free game.
2. Use Great Quality Videos
It’s true that athletes’ scouting profiles that include a highlight reel receive 10x more traffic than without one. However, it needs to be as professional as possible to make a lasting impression. If your only means of filming yourself playing is on a phone, make sure the individual holding the camera stays still and captures the entire play. The last thing you would want is scoring a tie-breaking touchdown to win your school the championship, just to find out your family missed the shot, or it was blurry. How many college athletes go pro with bad footage of themselves playing?
If you have the means of purchasing a high-quality camera or renting a video company to film for you, we say go for it.
3. Include a Variety of Plays
Make sure there is variety in the plays you choose. In addition to showing when you score, also include your passes, defense, hustle plays, great teamwork, and anything else that shows why you’d be a great addition to a coach’s college team. When selecting the plays, be sure to add 3-5 seconds before and after each so that the clip captures the play in the context of the game.
Having a large variety of gameplay included in your highlight reel will give the top college recruiters a well-rounded idea of the type of player you are. On the other hand, don’t put together a video that is almost the entire game. If athletic scouts want to see footage of your whole game, they will request it. Collegiate coaches won’t want to watch more than the first 20 to 30 seconds of your video, so keep it short and showcase your best work at the start.
4. Provide Detailed Information
When it comes to athlete recruitment videos, the details are everything. You want to stand out and ensure your video stays on their mind. To do so, include your name, where you go to school, your jersey number, field position, graduation year, and other contact information at the start of the video. If you want to go a step further and believe it could change college recruiting services’ decisions in any way, incorporate your height and weight as well. This shouldn’t be a long introduction — just enough for them to get to know their future start athlete.
You know what it takes to be a star on the field, and by following these recruitment steps, you now know how to pick plays for your highlight reel. Your video is often a recruiter’s first impression of you, so make it a great one.
Did you enjoy the article ‘Pick the Right Plays for Your Highlight Athlete Recruitment Video’? If so, check out How to Make a Quality Highlight Video, or more of our articles HERE.
