Do I Need A Recruiting Video?

If you are in 8th or 9th grade and participated in a travel tournament where you supplied your email address, you might have gotten a call from a college reciting company. The NCSA, or Next College Student Athlete, is one the many companies that can help you get “seen” by a college coach. They are armed with an excellent sales force full of ex-successful college athletes, some of which you might have even been coached by or got lessons from (not me, I’m just sayin).

When they call, you might have not given one thought to college softball, other than your Practice Pro mental game sessions. You know, the ones where we ask them to dream big, make goals, and think about what college you might want to play for. Sometimes they catch you off-guard and make you feel like you missed something that other people know about.

How seriously and urgent is the need is to create a profile, start making calls and create a professional video? I asked a DIII College coach. Here’s what she said.

Do players need to have recruiting videos?  

NO - but most coaches will ask for them, especially if they can't see you live or if you didn't get much time or action when they did see you.  It's an enormous plus. If I had a daughter- we'd definitely do one and do it professionally.

Do all the players you recruit have videos?  Do you actually watch them?

No - but 90% have them and about 50% never would have gotten an invite to camp or me to come see them if they didn't have them.

Are they professionally done?

Not all, but they are better when they are.

Does it matter to you if they are professionally done?

See above.

What is a good video length?

Three minutes - four tops.

What are a couple characteristics of a good video?

Whatever the player's strength is should go first.  Only include bunting, running, sliding if that is something that highlights a strength or an important part of that players game. Make sure hitting is filmed from the side so we can see mechanics and from the back so we can see how the ball comes off the bat.

NCSA makes great videos.  Every coach's timeline is different on too soon or too late.  Top DI need it in 8th grade or beginning of 9th.  Mid-D1 by sophomore year.  Lower D1 and D2 by junior year is preferable. D3 looks at them as late as January of senior year, but for me, I'm usually done by September of a senior year, so it really ranges there.

If you are part of an exposure-type travel organization they will probably be bringing in experts or companies like NCSA to talk about the recruiting process. There are a ton of rules and etiquette guidelines that no normal person would ever know. They are not common sense. But if rules are not followed you could put a coach in a position to be out of NCAA recruiting compliance make you seem careless, or at the very least annoy a coach. A main message I’ve received from coaches is that being recruited, even if you are “the cream of the crop,” still requires effort on your part. Everyone is vying for attention. When coaches receive hundreds or even thousands of emails per week (seriously) , you’ll need to go the extra mile.