This week is a short video blog for Recruiting video tips. Weekly, I field a lot of questions about how to make a recruiting video so today I want to share a quick video with 3 good tips for recording a recruiting video.
A well-made recruiting video is one of the most important tools for high school baseball and softball players trying to earn college baseball scholarships. Coaches don’t have the time to see every baseball prospect in person. That’s why a skills video is an essential part of your athletic profile. It takes just a few minutes for a skill video to show coaches what a high school prospect has to offer. For your skills video to be effective, you need to know specifically what coaches are looking for. If you have video but not sure if it is good enough for a coach, I offer a free recruiting video review. Simply book an appointment at the link below then send your video. I’ll check it out and give you some feedback during the short 30 minute call.
A well-made recruiting video is one of the most important tools for high school baseball and softball players trying to earn college baseball scholarships.
Often I compare the recruiting process to a roller-coaster. The speed of the cart is determined by the track. How the track is designed involves many twists and turns as well as places where the pace becomes so slow that it seems to stop. Like a roller-coaster, and depending on the sport, recruiting in the Fall can simultaneously cause both excitement and anxiety so here a few tips to as you buckle-in for the ride.
During the Fall, and after the window of the contact period closes, it is very important to know what contact period of your sport and the communication regulations that accompany them. This information is easy to locate within the NCAA and NAIA regulations on their respective websites. This information can also be accessed in your Prepstar profile.
Now, be aware that all divisions (D1, D2, D3, etc) have similar, but different, communication rules. For example, D2 coaches have much more leniency with communications in comparison to D1 coaches. Additionally, in football, FBS schools (those that go to bowl games) have similar contact periods but different number of evaluation opportunities.
The key to communicating in the Fall is to be proactive! Throughout the year, and at any time, athletes are permitted to contact coaches. This means that to communicate with college coach outside of designated contact periods, student-athletes have to be the one to initiate contact. Additionally, this rule also applies to underclassmen (Freshman and Sophomores). Again, no matter what time of year and no matter the contact period, college coaches are permitted to talk with prospects as long as the prospect makes the first move to contact them.
So, I highly recommend that student-athletes take the initiative to reach out to coaches with emails, texts and voicemails. Don’t ever wait for them to call you, instead you call them.
To wrap up, it is an understatement to say that recruiting is a year round process. There is no downtime because college coaches are always recruiting. So use the latter part of year to your advantage. For Fall sports this is a great time of year to get aquatinted with coaches, take visits and build that ever important recruiting relationship. Likewise, student-athletes that play winter or spring sports can use the Fall to as a great opportunity to get on the radar and generate interest from coaches for the upcoming seasons.
Good luck!
Coach Mike oversees the the recruiting of talented next-level athletes to develop a recruiting strategy to get seen, scouted and recruited. As a coach with over 20 years of experience, and a as former college athlete, Mike now mentors families through the academic, athletic and financial aspects of college recruiting.
Coach Mike – Email: mwoosley@csaprepstar.com Office: 805-622-STAR
This week’s tip about social media is very important. So, here’s the tip: coaches pay attention to how athletes present themselves on social media.
Recently, All-Pro NFL superstar J.J. Watt lectured students on this very topic. Watts’ wisdom was this, “A reputation takes years and year and years to build, and one press of a button to ruin.” You can find the article here.
Here’s an example of the harm that can’t be undone. Recently, I spoke with an athlete that was kicked off his team because someone in a picture with him was holding an illegal drug. One stupid mistake has sidelined this stellar senior athlete and jeopardized his future. Please, don’t let this happen to you.
Make wise choices to avoid costly decisions.
Social media is a tremendous way to interact with people all over the world and express ourselves in any way we choose. But with great opportunity comes great responsibility. Here are some important things to keep in mind before you send your message into the great global conversation.
Anyone, anywhere can see your post
Your post speaks for your personality and character
Pictures can speak for the company you keep.
Posts are nearly impossible to erase once its out in cyber-space
To close, I’m not saying don’t use social media. I’m only suggesting that you use it to your advantage. Used properly social media really can make a difference with your recruiting. So before you press ‘send’ think about the consequences. If you have any reservations for what your about to send, by all means don’t send it!
Be smart with social media.
Coach Mike Woosley
Coach Mike Woosley is a National Scouting Director at CSA-PrepStar. As a professional collegiate sports scout Mike works with qualified next level student-athletes to find the right college athletic and academic fit. Comments and questions are always welcome.
As Scouting Director I get to see many of the country’s most talented athletes. As I evaluate, talk and meet with families across the nation and I’ve discovered that a larger number of them struggle with recruiting. I want to share what I’ve found to help you with your athlete’s recruiting.
Most often recruiting struggles have little to do with the athlete’s ability and more to do with timing. The number one recruiting mistake I see most often is related to starting the recruiting process too late.
Because college coaches cannot recruit a player that he/she does not know about you can avoid this mistake by starting the recruiting process early. An early start assures more control over the recruiting process and greater opportunities to be scouted and recruited by more coaches, as well as, saves your family time, money and worry.
However, neglecting to start early has severe consequences. The most common are
unnecessarily spending of precious time and money trying to make up for lost time,
loss of control over the recruiting process
no competitive advantage over the thousands of other athletes hoping to fill roster spots and get scholarships
athletes that are overlooked and not recruited like they should be
Partnering with PrepStar and myself can assure you the right amount of recruiting exposure and assistance you need to stay ahead of the recruiting game or catch up if you are behind.
I hope this tip is both helpful and useful for your athlete’s recruiting. I’ve included a few recruiting resources are included below to help you out.
~ Coach Mike
Coach Mike Woosley is a National Scouting Director at CSA-PrepStar. As a professional collegiate sports scout Mike works with qualified next level student-athletes to find the right college athletic and academic fit. Comments and questions are always welcome.
Getting attention is necessary for recruiting. The simple reason for this is because coaches can’t recruit players they don’t know about. Here’s a quick tip on how you can use what’s interesting about you to get attention that will help your recruiting.
There is a right way and a wrong way to grab attention.
Simple interesting notice gets attention
Almost immediately, with just a few words and a simple “ding” ESPN managed to get my attention, spike my curiosity and persuade me to watch the video. And, as any good natured sports fan would do, I picked up my phone to to check it out.
Truthfully, I’m not sure why I watched it. However, those few short sentences caused me to be interested enough to click the play button. I wasn’t thinking about Colin Cowherd, Jim Harbaugh or M*ch*gan football at the time. (Although, I grew up in Ohio and my allegiance has always been with the Buckeyes so maybe my loathing for that team up north might of had something to do with it.)
Being interesting gets attention
I learned a few things from this experience that I believe can help you with your recruiting. First, its important to be interesting enough to get attention. Second, its important to keep that attention. Third, once you get attention its important that you deliver the goods. Hype is good only if you can back it up.
Try it out, but ask a few questions first
Here’s a good tip. You’ll get the attention you want if what you give interesting information. So when your polishing your Prepstar profile, making a highlight video, sending an email or text, posting on social media or visiting a college campus consider this question ‘What’s interesting about me that makes coaches want to give me their attention?’
To wrap up, everyone has something about them that makes them interesting that makes them worthy of attention. Its a terrible trap to think that you don’t. Try making a list of interesting things about you, or ask a close friend to name some interesting things about you. Then, you’ll be well on your way to sharing interesting information about yourself to help you get the right kind of recruiting attention.
Find these tips helpful? Experience successful result using them? If so, let me know in the comment or message me on Twitter.
Coach Mike Woosley is a National Scouting Director at CSA-PrepStar. As a professional collegiate sports scout Mike works with qualified next level student-athletes to find the right college athletic and academic fit. Comments and questions are always welcome.
This summer my wife and I will mark our 18th year of beginning together (married for 16 years). Believe it or not, however, when I first met my wife she did not immediately start dating me. It’s hard to imagine, I know, but we went through several months of courtship before we committed to dating exclusively. Dating and recruiting are a lot alike. There is always a period of time that it takes for a coach and player to get to know one another before making a formal commitment to spend the next 4 years together.
During the recruiting process the relationship developed between a player and coach leads to great commitment.
So, how does dating relate to recruiting? I’ve outline three steps to communication to grow a solid player/coach recruiting relationship. During that time lots of communication should happen to grow the relationship. Take note, because there are several similarities in process of getting to know the person you’re going to be committed to for the next 4 years.
The first step is to get to know one another. Whether its text, email, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or SnapChat athletes and coaches need to communicate with one another. Don’t be timid! Healthy relationships grow out of quality conversations. Its okay to be forward, often a coach expresses his/her interests first starting the recruiting communication process by contacting an athlete, viewing their profile or sending an athlete (or family) written correspondence.
The second step is to ask questions. You should ask questions to get the information you are looking for. Keep in mind that you are interviewing a coach, just as much as the coach is interviewing you. Your decision to accept a scholarship offer is contingent on the answers to your questions. Also, keep in mind, coaches solidify relationships by making scholarship offers to players they are comfortable with and confident in.
The third step is to schedule a meeting. Eventually the time will come to decide whether or not to take the relationship to the next level. Real dates happen face to face, not via technology, so its necessary that a time to meet is scheduled. This can be a campus visit, camp, or meeting at your school/home. Point is the communication you’ve had with the coach will determine the chemistry (or lack of) at the face to face meeting.
Lastly, always keep in mind that every relationship takes time. So my advice to you is to give yourself plenty of time to start and grow that relationship. This is a vital because we are well aware that relationships that happen in a hurry often end in a hurry. If you want the relationship between you and your coach to last, you need to invest the time necessary to assure that it will last.
Coach Mike Woosley is a National Scouting Director at CSA-PrepStar. As a professional collegiate sports scout Mike works with qualified next level student-athletes to find the right college athletic and academic fit. Comments and questions are always welcome.
The Freshman years is the year you need to stay focused on your plan.
Every day I talk to parents and athletes that have no recruiting strategy. Every athlete dreaming to sign a national letter of intent has to have a recruiting plan. I shared last week that the key is for your recruiting plan to be put in motion during junior high years. But what about now that you’re a big shot high-schooler?
If you put your plan in motion in junior high you’ll be ready both as a student and an athlete. This helps high school student-athletes be prepared for more than a new regime of classes.
According to the NCAA, you become a prospective student-athlete (PSA) on the first day of your Freshman year. But, don’t expect to get a scholarship offer your Freshman year because college coaches are limited by NCAA recruiting guidelines for contacting Freshman athletes. In comparison to upperclassmen, coaches can only send PSA’s institutional educational information as well as questionnaires, and camp invites. One note to parents, be aware that at this point camp invites are more about bringing revenue to the sports program than evaluating athletes. The reason for this is because most student-athletes will undergo a significant transformations between Freshman and Senior year. Coaches know this too. That’s why the focus of the Freshman year should be to work on the 3 S’s.
3 S’s Smarter– athletes that are great students are more desirable to colleges. Most schools won’t risk giving a scholarship to an athlete that may not be eligible to play.
Speedier– focus on running, agility, and conditioning drills will make you faster. When comparing two athletes, most colleges go with the smarter and faster of the two.
Stronger– weight training should be a vital part of your fitness regime at this stage. Your body needs added strength to withstand the long season.
Crucial Do’s and Don’ts
The Freshman year is pivotal to the plan you put in motion in junior high. Here are five Do’s and Don’ts to guide you through Freshman year.
Do
-Make grades a priority!
-Start taking the required courses to meet the NCAA 16 core course requirements.
-Research colleges you’d like to play for.
-Email college coaches to ask what it takes to play for them.
-Keep record of your academic and athletic accomplishments at the competitive level.
Don’t
-Worry if you don’t make the varsity team.
-Worry if you don’t have game film or skills video.
-Worry about attending combines or showcases.
-Worry about taking unofficial college visits.
-Worry that you’re phone’s not ringing. (It’s not supposed to …yet)
Again, as a Freshman, personal contact or phone calls initiated by a college coaches from Division I & II programs are not allowed. But the good news is that they are permitted your Sophomore year. Next week, I’ll keep the guide alive by giving you valuable recruiting tips for your Sophomore year.
Please follow the blog and leave comments to this week’s post or ask questions to be answered in next week’s post. As always, I can be reached around the clock on twitter. @michaelwoosley
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