Your recruiting video is your resume. It is a crucial part of the recruiting process and is a great way to promote yourself as an athlete.

College coaches want to see a highlight film of your game and practice footage so they can get an idea of who you are as a player. Before they can see you in action, they need to be able to evaluate you and decide if they see you as a prospective recruit. The first minute of your recruiting video will have the biggest impression on college coaches, so make sure it grabs their attention.

Be sure to have your name, contact information, high school, position, jersey number and color available to the coach before watching the video. You don’t want coaches going through the whole video without knowing who they are watching. Or worse, completely disregarding the video because you forgot the importance of this information in your intro. But don’t make it too long or you might lose their interest.

It is best to keep the video between 3-5 minutes; most coaches don’t have the time or patience to watch anything longer. If they like what they see, they might ask for more film which you can send later.

It’s not always clear who they should be watching during a game especially in sports like Football. Having a spot shadow or light on you during play is important. Coaches need to be able to identify you on a tape if they are going to evaluate you as a player.

Having game footage from multiple angles helps coaches see your technique, skills, and strengths from different perspectives. And if applicable to your sport, it’s always best to use highlights that show both your offensive and defensive skills.

Not only is it imperative as an athlete to begin collecting footage, but to collect the right footage. Recruiting coaches spend a lot of time watching film, scouting games, tournaments, and camps. You don’t want your tape to end up on the sideline because it was poorly put together. This tape could be the key to open the door to your future in college athletics.