Why are Soccer Recruiting Videos Important?

While undergoing the recruiting process, you might be asking yourself, "Is it worth my time to go through the trouble of creating or reaching out to get a soccer recruiting video made?" With the accessibility that youth players have to their game film and the ability coaches have to quickly access someone’s highlights without having to download an entire video, it has become increasingly easier to create a high-level recruiting video. Although it has become easier to create a recruiting video, that still doesn’t answer the question of whether a soccer recruiting video is important! Below, I touch on three key reasons why a recruiting video has become increasingly important through the use of various statistics and my own experiences while playing collegiate soccer and seeing other players go through the recruiting process.

Increased Visibility

The first and main reason why soccer recruiting videos are important is because they clearly increase your visibility as a youth player looking to play at the collegiate level. According to NCSA Sports, "It’s a fact that online recruiting profiles that include a highlight video receive more than 10 times as much traffic as those without one" The Importance Of Highlight And Skills Videos (ncsasports.org). Additionally, SportsRecruits mentioned, "College coaches are 19 times more likely to view your profile if you have video on your profile and are 11 times more likely to send messages to student-athletes with video on their profile than those without" Why Is Recruiting Video So Important? – SportsRecruits. Although there are slight discrepancies in how much of a benefit recruits see from a recruiting video, it is clear that there is an elevated chance of visibility from college coaches. As a player going through the recruiting process, this reason alone should be enough to create and attach a recruiting video to your player profile or emails. Even if the statistic was only 2 times more likely, it still would make sense to create a recruiting video.

In college soccer, you need to be proactive in your approach to gain the attention of college coaches. This is different from what you might see for football and basketball programs, where a 2 times increase in your visibility could be the difference between attending your dream school and getting looked past as a recruit.

Creates a Memorable First Impression

If you are cold emailing a school that you have a ton of interest in, your first impression and how the coaches perceive you matter. A highlight video attached to your profile information and accolades, if done correctly, can bolster that first impression. They can now attach a playing style and specific movements in the highlight video that showcase you at your best to your initial email. They have actual in-game moments to tie to your name when thinking about possible recruits for an upcoming class. A well-put-together highlight video could bring excitement for them to find you at the next showcase, or it could be enough to warrant a response from the coach to make sure they can find a time for you to get in front of them.

Creating a great first impression on a coach is no different than going through the interview stage. You are statistically more likely to get a second interview if you can make yourself memorable. The same thing applies to the recruiting process. You are more likely to have a conversation started between you and the coach by making your first impression memorable. Get a highlight video. There is no harm in creating one!

Scholarship Opportunities

A less likely outcome from having a soccer recruiting video would be that you put yourself in a position to receive a higher amount or any amount of sport-specific scholarship. College coaches typically do not make recruiting decisions off watching one highlight video. They typically have 2-3 "touchpoints" with a player, whether that be watching at a showcase or inviting them to an ID camp before making a final decision. However, as we have previously mentioned, college coaches cannot make it everywhere, and sometimes they have to rely on video footage to make a decision. In those circumstances, who is to say that a well-put-together highlight video on top of your game film for a school that might not be geographically close to you won’t make a scholarship decision based on your recruiting video?

These opportunities only show up in a handful of situations, but they do happen. Imagine receiving additional financial aid from a college program because your recruiting video was top quality, and they know if they do not offer enough, that the highlight video will spark the interest of another coach and they could lose the opportunity entirely.

Again, these opportunities do not happen the majority of the time! However, they have happened and will continue to happen with the increase of readily available game films out there.

In Conclusion 

You may be hesitant to start the process of creating a soccer recruiting video because you don't feel like you have enough highlights, you have no idea how to clip and edit moments from a game, you don’t know a soccer-specific recruiting video service, or never thought it would make a difference. Now that it is clear that there are unwavering benefits to a soccer recruiting video, I have attached below a couple of resources that you can utilize.

Tutorial on how to create your own highlight video How to Make a Soccer Recruiting Video - YouTube

If you know the premise of how to edit videos and are struggling to determine what game clips to add head to How to Make a Recruiting Video — Tekkers Media 

You might be one of those people who just need someone who has professional experience making these videos to do it. If so look no further than Tekkers Media.

"Tekkers Media is a crucial tool for players looking to expand their exposure, particularly in the soccer recruiting world. While a part of the recruiting process the ability to be proactive and reach out to schools is a necessity. You can’t just wait for them to find you.” 

We stand apart from typical sports highlight video services and other recruiting agencies. At Tekkers Media, all recruiting highlight videos are created by individuals who have played at the highest levels. They possess firsthand experience in recognizing quality actions when reviewing footage. We do not use automation; instead, we meticulously review your performance and segment the video to showcase your best attributes.

More information about Tekkers Media and how to get your recruiting video started.