An athletic scholarship can be a golden ticket to a college education. And a sports highlight or recruiting video showcasing your sporting prowess can make a differences to your chances for that scholarship. But not all sports highlight reels are created equal. So here are some tips to ensure that your game tape goes to the top of the pile.
Most coaches agree that a student athlete wishing to succeed at the next level will need a recruiting video - or "sports highlight reel". A sports highlight video can be the crown to a successful high school career and the launching pad for college or college transfer.
But there is a world of difference between a must-watch reel that says "class" - and something with Sharpie scrawl that sits on coaches' desks unplayed. Keep in mind that people with high standards - like successful athletes - tend to have high standards in all they do. So, if you are an ambitious student athlete, here are the 10 must-do rules for your sports highlight video.
1. Keep it short
Busy coaches don't have time to wade through endless hours of sports footage hoping to spot that magic moment. So keep the video short. Three to five minutes should be plenty.
2. Put your best plays first
Don't rely on a coach watching through to the end (sorry). Start with your best play so they keep watching. If you have a killer spike play or a touchdown pass or reception (or a final buzzer 3-pointer) - start with that. You want to knock their socks off right out of the gate.
3. Don't waste time
When making the sports highlight DVD, make sure the actual video track of your plays starts immediately (this is called "first play" in the biz). Don't start with a menu. After the clips end, or when the coach presses the "menu" button, have the sports highlight video then go to a menu screen (and see #8 below).
When selecting and editing down your video clips, keep them tight - don't follow the play long after it has ended. It is not out of place to show you celebrating one of your plays with the team - shows you care about the result and are a team player. Just don't overdo it.
4. Highlight yourself
The video clips are going to be short - around 10 seconds or so each for a total of around 20 - which doesn't leave much time to read numbers on a players' back. You will have to highlight yourself - use an arrow or a circle or - best of all - a traveling spotlight effect.
5. Give specifics
Use text and captions to show your number, the game, the date, the opposition and the score. You can best do that with a brief chapter screen if you are using a number of plays from the same game. If the game is in a clutch situation, you can indicate that.
6. Avoid video tricks
Don't use jazzy filter effects to enhance the video. But, if the footage is dark or badly off-color (often is - shot by volunteers) then you will want to do a little color correction and you may need to adjust the white and black levels. Slow motion is OK if it helps to understand a play and it is used very sparingly.
7. Don't ruin it with bad sound
Choose your sound track carefully. If there is good crowd noise, keep it in and leave it at that. Music - some appropriate background track - is not hugely important. But if you decide to go that way, don't include anything that might be offensive. And, certainly don't use music that is copyright. Coaches look at the whole player and you don't want to start things off on the wrong footing by showing that you pirate music (besides, if you post the video to the web - illegal music could get it taken down).
8. Include a whole game or period as a menu option
If a coach is interested, they may want to see a whole game or a whole period. If you have some material that would qualify, then you can create a separate track for that game and make it a menu item on your DVD. The coach plays the disk, likes what they see, the end of he DVD defaults to a menu screen, and you have a whole game or period they can click on. Or two. (A regular DVD can hold about 90 minutes of material at full quality.)
9. Post to the Web
Posting to the web is free and easy, so why not? You can easily send the link around by email or text and some coaches will prefer that to a DVD. Be careful about the privacy of third parties though - especially minors.
