Last edition, we explained the second step that every athlete must take in order to play college football - create an online athletic and academic website for college coaches.  This edition we will explain the third step - a highlight or skills tape.

A critical part of recruiting for college coaches is the evaluation process.  Simply put, if college coaches do not believe a student athlete possesses the ability to play for their school, they are not going to spend their recruiting resources pursuing that student athlete.  In most cases, college coaches have two choices when attempting to evaluate a student athlete.  They can either watch a student athlete compete in person or they can accomplish a similar evaluation by watching a highlight or skills tape.

Most college coaches would agree that in an ideal process, all their evaluations would take place in person to allow for the most thorough assessment. Unfortunately, college coaches are restrained by time and money when recruiting, which is why a highlight or skills tape has quickly become the most efficient way for a college coach to initially evaluate talent.  Let's compare the two ways that college coaches can evaluate a student athlete based on two key factors:

Time: While recruiting is a significant portion of a college coach's job responsibility, they are also in charge of actually coaching and managing their team.  It would be impossible for a coach to travel to high school competitions, showcases, tournaments, etc. to evaluate all of their prospects.  This much travel would never allow a coach the opportunity to evaluate prospects outside of their immediate geographic region.  Utilizing the skills or highlight tape allows a college coach to initially evaluate potentially hundreds of student athletes all across the nation in a matter of days, making the process far more efficient.

Money: College coaches are always constrained to a specific recruiting budget.  On average, this budget is less than $1,500.  Aside from being time consuming, traveling to evaluate prospects in person is extremely costly.  However, athletes should never make the mistake of thinking this means that grant and scholarship money is unavailable.  Remember, scholarship and recruiting money come from two different pools.

Between time and money, it becomes clear why the highlight or skills tape is far more effective and efficient for college coaches to evaluate prospects.  Of course, the college coach most likely will want to evaluate the student athlete in person at some point, but the initial evaluation is almost always done by watching film.

Now that we have established why the highlight and skills tape is more logical for college coaches, here are some crucial questions to ask when taking this mandatory step in the recruiting process.

What should I film?

The purpose of the highlight or skills tape is to allow the college coach to evaluate a student athlete's ability.  Each sport will require a different set of skills to be filmed and it is vital you capture the necessary skills for a coach to make an informed decision.  NCSA has developed thorough, sport specific guidelines after surveying college coaches.  For information about those guidelines, click here.

Also keep in mind that coaches are now using film to evaluate student athletes in all sports.   In the past, some families and student athletes felt as though, due to the nature of their sport, they did not need a highlight or skills tape.  For example, because sports such as track and swimming are "time" oriented and more objective, the misconception was that college coaches only need the hard numbers.  With increased competition for recruits, college coaches not only want the times and numbers, but they also want to watch technique to factor in the potential of a student athlete.

The bottom line is that every athlete in every sport needs a highlight or skills tape.  Each sport dictates a different set of skills be filmed, and if you do not know exactly what to film then the student athlete might not be receiving the proper evaluation from college coaches.

How should I edit the film?

Once the footage has been taken, it is time to edit the film in order to best present the student athlete.  It is important to sequence the video in a way that will make a college coach want to watch more.  If the first few plays or skills are unimpressive then chances are the college coach will not spend his time watching the rest.

Also, make sure the student athlete being evaluated can be easily identified.  In sports such as basketball, football, soccer, and many others, the amount of athletes on the field or court make it difficult for a college coach to distinguish the student athlete they are supposed to be watching.  That's why NCSA employs a technique called "spot shadowing" to highlight the individual student athlete.  Check out the differences:

Enhanced vs. Unenhanced Video (http://www.ncsasports.org/the-recruiting-process/five-things-you-must-do/create-a-video)

Which student athlete is going to be evaluated accurately?

How should I send the highlight / skills tape?

Once you have gathered all the footage, sequenced the highlight or skills tape to accommodate a college coach's evaluation, it is time to send the video out to the coaching community.  This crucial step will require college contacts and some sort of mechanism to distribute the information to a sufficient number of coaches. To learn how you can get your information in front of college coaches, click here.  Next edition, we will discuss the fourth step in the recruiting process:  College Contacts.