We are proud to announce the addition of Mackenzi Loftin to our family of recruits at recruits.mlcasey.com.

Mackenzi’s profile and video can be found here.

We are proud to announce the addition of Katie Slaughter to our family of recruits at recruits.mlcasey.com.

Katie’s profile and video can be found here.

We are proud to announce the addition of Jordan Griffith to our family of recruits at recruits.mlcasey.com.

Jordan’s profile and video can be found here.

We are proud to announce the addition of Chandler McCrury to our family of recruits at recruits.mlcasey.com.

Chandler’s profile and video can be found here.

Also, it was so exciting to see Chandler and her Vista Ridge teammates featured tonight on the KVUE sports report. Continued success to Chandler and her Ranger teammates!

ML Casey Video Services is excited about today’s launch of our new site dedicated to the recruits who have produced their recruiting videos through us.

The new site, recruits.mlcasey.com, features a profile page for each recruit with an overview, an embedded video, and with basic contact information. Our clients can email their personal link to recruiters, and the link will take the recruiter directly to the recruits’ profile.

In addition, as our portfolio of recruits grows, recruiters can use the built-in search function on the site to look for other students that may be a fit for their program.

It is our honor to launch the new site with the profile of Madison Hess, a female basketball point guard from Texas in the class of 2011. Madi’s page can be found here.

Our recruits site is always accessible from the main navigation menu by going to the Links drop-down menu and selecting -Our Recruits.

Now that you have your sports skills video produced, what do you do with it? You will notice that I used the word “marketing” in the title of this post. No one is going to market you like you can. I understand that select organizations often help with the recruiting process by printing tournament literature and by posting recruiting sections on their websites, but my statement stands. No one is going to market you like you can. So, how do you do it?

Your skills video/DVD is a tool that you must now use. If you do not actively use it, it will be like seed that is never removed from the sack and planted. It will not grow. I want to discuss a couple of strategies.

Hopefully you have two video tools.

1. A professionally produced 10-15 minute menu driven skills DVD.
2. A 3-5 minute online video that can be accessed by the viewer online via a link in an email and/or can be embedded in a website.

At ML Casey Video Services, we routinely produce these two tools for a number of sports.

You should have a list of at least fifteen colleges, but as many as you can manage communicating with, that you are interested in. I recommend that this include a mixture of schools from “reach” choices (Div. 1, for example) to smaller schools and junior colleges. Create a mailing list with the head coaches’ names, addresses, and email addresses. In creating this list of your target schools don’t forget to make sure the school meets your academic needs. You are going to be using your degree a lot longer than you are going to be playing sports.

Write a letter to the coach explaining that you are interested in playing your sport in college, that you have researched their program (record, results, history, roster, etc.), and that you would like to learn more and see if you might be a fit. Your letter should prominently include your graduation class and position(s) played. Invite them to view the enclosed DVD, and express an interest in visiting their campus. Tell them you are interested in any camps or tryouts they may be hosting. Your video should include contact information, but be sure to include that in your letter, too. You should let the coach know if you have already applied to the college. Definitely let them know if you are already accepted. That is important information for a coach. Send the letter and the DVD in a padded envelope to protect it.

If you are currently in season (high school or select), include a schedule so the coach or assistants can come watch you play.

For each school you are pursuing, create a correspondence log that tracks all correspondence and interaction with that school. For example:

Podunk University

• 5/13/2009 – Sent Coach Whatshisname my initial letter and DVD
• 5/14/2009 – Completed Podunk’s online athletic questionnaire. Mentioned in the comments section that my DVD is in the mail.
• 5/20/2009 – Followed up with an email to Coach Whatshisname to be sure he received my DVD and the questionnaire.
• 5/20/2009 – Coach Whatshisname emailed me back that he did receive the DVD and the questionnaire. He hopes to view it in the next couple of days.

A couple of points about emails. Be sure to always include your name and graduation class in the subject line of any email. You want the coach to be able to quickly identify your email in his or her inbox. Also, always include a link to the online version of your video. You can put it in a signature line of each email if you choose. Perhaps your signature block is like this:

Sincerely,

Rebecca Topnotch

Class of 2012

Austin, TX

(123) 456-7890 (mobile)

My online skills video: http://recruits.mlcasey.com/rebecca-topnotch

If you set that signature block up and save it, you can automatically include it with each email. It is not hard with most email systems to create a signature like that. A coach that may not make the time to find your DVD in the stack of stuff on the desk, open it up, pop it in the DVD player, and watch it, may very well click on your link and watch your four minute video. That could well cause the coach to find and watch the full DVD

Recruiting Sites

If your travel/select team has a recruiting section, be sure to provide the webmaster with your embedded code or with a link to your online video.

Our clients at ML Casey Video Services automatically get a personal profile page on our site with their online video embedded. This dedicated and personalized link can be a great tool to use in emails.

There are a number of free recruiting sites where your player can create a profile and post a link or embed the video. There are even more sites out there that will use your video and promote your player for a fee (often substantial). We never used those with my son. The most effective technique for him was the letter/DVD combination and the emails with links.

Conclusion

Give some thought to how you will interact with the coach when he or she calls or emails. Demonstrate in your written correspondence (both letter and email) that you know the language and write well. Again, you are selling yourself not only as an athlete, but a student. Also, be respectful in your phone conversations with the coach. Be honest about your interest and your abilities. It is always good to ask, “What is the next step, Coach?” Be sure to make notes in your correspondence log about what was said and what the next steps are.

My belief is that the video’s main purpose is to get you an opportunity to interact with a coach in person and to show them who you are and what you can do. That could be in a camp, a tryout, a campus visit, or by them watching you compete live in a tournament or game. Once you get that audience, it is up to you and the coach to determine that you are the right fit for each other.

Good luck, and don’t be shy. Remember, no one is going to market you like you can!

If we can answer any questions or help in any way, please drop us a line at mark@mlcasey.com

I have had the privilege of producing sports skills videos for softball and baseball players for a couple of years now. Seeing the recruiting process from that side is quite different from what I see now as my son pursues an opportunity to play baseball at the collegiate level.

As a parent, how do you guide your son or daughter and plan for a future that may or may not include athletics in college? I have created a diagram that other parents have told me has been helpful to them. If your son or daughter is a top flight, can’t miss prospect, this is probably not going to apply to you. If your child, though, is a late bloomer or a marginally talented player that needs to really work to earn an opportunity at the next level, this might be helpful.

My question was how do I help my son pursue college athletics opportunities without knowing for sure that he is going to get that shot? What if we put all of our eggs in that basket and then an opportunity to play does not materialize? Where does that leave him for a normal college life? I have chosen to think of his options as lying along two parallel paths.

In the diagram below you will notice that the two tracks he can pursue are represented by parallel lines. Both lines have arrows pointing to the same goal. The Ultimate Goal is a degree, a career, a family, and a happy life. Either path can get him there. The diagram should enlarge if you click on it.

The Student-Athlete Track

The top path is the student-athlete track. It is important that the athletes identify the schools that they believe are possible fits for them from an athletic standpoint and from an academic standpoint. Parents may have to steer the student back to reality if he or she is hoping to play softball at Arizona or baseball at Texas, but cannot crack the starting lineup of his or her high school team as a senior. This does not mean that there is no school for them, but it may be a junior college or a division III school. Likewise, if your son or daughter is a top-flight athlete and wants to play at Vanderbilt, but has a poor academic record, your job as a parent is to gather information and give your athlete wise counsel.

The Regular College Student Track

Please notice in the diagram that the bottom path is the “Regular College Student” track. I find it helpful to think and plan for the possibility that my son may not play baseball in college. Just having the desire to play does not necessarily mean he will get the opportunity. In that event, what will he do? He must do parallel planning in case the college athletics option does not work out. This means that he has to list, explore, and visit the schools he might like to attend assuming he will not play baseball. He will have to complete the applications, write the essays, and line up the reference letters just like every other aspiring college student.

The Vertical Arrows

So, what are the vertical arrows from the student athlete track to the regular college student track? These arrows represent the reality that even if you begin the student-athlete track, you may not stay there. Perhaps an injury ends the dream. Perhaps the student-athlete decides not to pay the very high price required of student-athletes. Perhaps he or she decides that his or her skill level is not really up to par. Whatever the reason, the chart reminds everyone that starting on the student-athlete track does not mean necessarily remaining on it until graduation. The vertical arrows could mean becoming a regular college student at the same institution where the student began as an athlete, or it could be a transfer to a different school. The important thing to notice is that regardless of how the athletics career turns out, both tracks lead to the same goals: degree, career, family, and life.

As a former athlete, I have to say that if my son does start down the student-athlete path, I want him to see it through to the end. This is all about learning to finish a task, not be a quitter, etc. However, there are sometimes circumstances beyond our control that cause us to modify our plans. That is part of life.

There are many reasons for student-athletes to take grades seriously, but those vertical arrows leading to the regular college student track should help to visually reinforce why it is important. Student-athletes that maintain good grades and high GPAs while on that track give themselves many attractive options if they decide to become a regular college student. From speaking with parents of collegiate student-athletes, maintaining high grades while fulfilling the requirements of the athletic commitment is easier said than done and requires great discipline and dedication. However, given that the ultimate goal is a degree and a career, it is well worth the effort.

Conclusion

There is no question that trying to plan for college, which is difficult enough for regular students, is complicated by the prospect of college athletics. The diagram shared in this article has been helpful to me in organizing my thoughts and our actions about how to wisely navigate through it all.

Please let me know if you have questions about the recruiting process from a parent’s eyes. I am not an expert on recruiting, but I am currently going through the process and will be glad to help if I can.

If you need help producing an athletics skills video for your son or daughter, please give us a call. You can reach Mark at 512.619.8336 or at mark@mlcasey.com.