Film...The First Steps to Getting Recruited

Lets (for arguments sake) assume you're a DI talent, and you want to get your name "out there." I will share with you the steps we took to promote our sons (and they worked).

First: The most important thing you can have of yourself is game film. Some schools produce great film of their games, but sadly most make very poor quality game films. I have seen film from some schools that you can't even watch. Colleges are not going to waste their time looking at film they can't even see.

I suggest investing in a camcorder that someone in your family can use to film your games. If you can't afford one then maybe someone in your family has one that you can use...maybe the school has a tv production class, and they might allow you (the parent) to use a camera to film the games, and if all else fails...(assuming the school produces bad film) go to the head coach and volunteer to film the games for him. The coach would love to have quality film to work with, and that's almost a sure way to get the school or maybe a booster to loan you a camera for the games.

If you have your own camera you can spend more time highlighting your child in the footage, but if you're filming for the school you'll have to give it a more "broad look". If your doing it for the school...ask the coach what he wants, and he'll give you instructions on how he wants the game filmed. Your only fee will be a copy of each film.

When filming it's important to keep the camera steady, and stay in focus. As a general rule you should be able to see the numbers on the jerseys. The best film is clear, steady, and begins each play showing both lines of scrimmage, the qb, the rb's, and the lb's...you will also see the wr's and the db's that are lined up on the line. It isn't neccesary to zoom out so far that you include the safeties...as you follow the play you'll get them on film. If you zoom out too far you won't be able to identify the players, and even the play itself will be difficult to see.

If your using your own camera...you can zoom in briefly before each play to identify your child...and then zoom back to film the play. These should be slow clear zooms (both in and out)...don't move so fast that it gives the viewer a headache.

Practice with the camera at your child's practices, their spring game, local little league games, etc...so when the season begins you'll have your technique down pat, and you'll be able to make a good quality tape. The higher you film the better. You'll cover more of the field this way.

Once you get the first three games it's time to make a highlight video. Again...many schools have tv production classes, and you can speak to the teacher about making the highlight video. Don't be afraid to ask, and if you volunteer to do it yourself...the teacher can just show you how to make the fim, and then you're in business.

There are also other ways to get highlights made for FREE. Doing it yourself is always number one, but (and we're assuming the player is DI caliber for this next suggestion) you can send copies of the game film to Rivals or Scout. I have links to both of these national recruiting services to the right of this blog. Look up the contact information on these sites, and they'll tell you where to send the film. These companies earn a living by covering recruiting, and they're always excited to get film on the next great player...especially if it looks like they discovered the kid.

Rivals and Scout are great resources because universities look at their databases, and they pay close attention to who these sites say are the best players. Coaches will tell you they don't pay attention to these sites, BUT THEY DO. Without naming names...I can attest to more then one major university calling me based on something they saw on Rivals and Scout.

Using these sites help coaches get on the next group of recruits early, because most of these sites have already done the groud work in identifying the next great players. One way they make this identification is by watching film...so send your raw footage to them...every 3 or 4 games.

If you live in Florida there are 2 other invaluable resources...Flavarsity.com and Sunshinepreps.net (There are links to both sites on the right).

Michael Langston runs FlaVarsity, and he truly cares about the kids. Mike does stories on kids, puts there video on his site (his site is part or Rivals), and his message boards like football central (which is free) is a great place to talk to other people about the process.

Sunshinepreps.net is run by Derek Williams, and Derek makes more highlight films for Florida players (for FREE) then anyone I know. He probably made film on a 1000 players last year just in Florida...again FOR FREE. Derek makes emailable wmv files out of the highlight films so you can email the footage directly to college coaches! He knows just about every coach at every level of college football so he can get your film in front of the right coaches, and point you in the right direction to do it yourself. He also features film on his website. I believe there is also a Georgia preps and a Texas preps.

So when should you start filming? Unless your child is an absolute "freak of nature" on the field you can probably skip his freshman year. I would definately film his entire sophomore and junior seasons including spring and post season games. The sophomore and junior seasons are THE MOST IMPORTANT!! Like we discussed earlier...the 2009 class is already getting offers and giving committments before they even play 1 down of their senior year. They are known talents, and that's because they were recogized during their sophomore and junior seasons.

I hope this brief overview on film was helpful. The next blog will discuss combines and camps...stay tuned.