<p>Hey guys, I play football In New Jersey at a very competitive Catholic school. 21 of our 22 starters were seniors-me being only a junior led my class in tackles with a mere 16 most of which were on special teams. However, I did see some play on offense as well as a few plays on defense. I made the most out of whatever play i got and after reviewing my film managed to salvage 15-20 descent plays. I am not looking to play division I but i am hoping that football might help with admissions into some Nescac schools next year. I guess my question(s) would be-Do you think 15-20 plays is enough? Does anyone have a clue on a legitimate company that makes these highlight films? Would it be easier just to do on my mac?</p>
<p>Put however many good plays you have, even if its short. Or maybe only clips from 1 game where you had alot of playing time and did well. Something to keep them at least wondering, then go to the camp and see what happens.</p>
<p>Dont pay someone to do your tape. The hard part is finding good plays and spotting it in the tape. If you did that already, the hard work is done. As I have said here before, NESCAC coaches have said they wanted to see game film, so a limited highlight film isnt necessarily a problem. send the highlight film and a game tape. Most coaches will also ask to see film from senior year, so start thinking about which game next season might yield a good game film. Fill out the contact info on the website for schools you are interested in. search the threads here, there are lots of good information, dealing specifically with football, NESCAC and both. Also, possible camp opportunities to get noticed… There are a lot of really knowledgeable people here. Good luck. As my son finishes his first year at a NESCAC, I can say it has been great and better than either he or I could have wished for. PM if you need some additional info.</p>
<p>I think 15-20 plays is plenty. You could do a video yourself with Windows Movie Maker (it’s probably already on your computer-it’s included with most versions of Windows). You can upload your video to YouTube for free or to GoBigRecruiting for about $5-$8/school you want to "send " it to. </p>
<p>More importantly, you need to get on the radar of the coaching staffs of the colleges you are interested in. Send them an email with a link to your video. Include a quick summary of your academic status (GPA, class rank, SAT or ACT scores). You might seriously consider attending the football camps of the schools you are most interested in. You could also attend the NE Elite Camp at Bentley College July 5-8. All 10 NESCAC colleges will have coaches there looking for good players. There will be an additional 40 colleges there from other conferences–mostly the brainy ones.</p>
<p>If you are a good player with good grades and test scores, football will most certainly give you an advantage when applying to a NESCAC. Here’s what we learned (cut and pasted from a topic buried on page 9 of this forum):</p>
<p>My son was recently accepted ED at a NESCAC school. He was offered a “slot” by the football coach, who “supported him” for admission. It certainly helped in getting my son admitted. Not because my son isn’t a good student, but because even very good or great students have a hard time getting into some NESCAC schools. Here’s what my son did:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sent highlight DVD with letter, athletic resume, transcript and activities resume to 50 head coaches at schools he MIGHT have been interested in. That was sent in December of his Junior year, although looking back it may have been too early.</li>
<li>Filled out the athlete prospect form at the same 50 schools.</li>
<li>Sent an e-mail to each of the 50 coaches telling them he had sent the packet and filled out the form.</li>
</ul>
<p>He cast a wide net and I think this is very very important. The 50 schools were NESCAC, Ivy, Patriot, North Coast, and several others that featured good academic schools that met his geographic wants.</p>
<p>Response was varied. </p>
<p>He never heard from some coaches. No interest.
He got generic e-mails from some coaches. Little interest.
He got personalized e-mails from some coaches. Good interest.
He got phone calls from some coaches. Great interest!</p>
<p>At that point, he focused in on the schools that were showing interest. Remember, his initial criteria was geographic, and they had to be excellent academic schools. He called and e-mailed the football staff and set up campus visits and quick visits to say “hello”. That was in the spring of his Junior year. That was probably 10-15 schools.</p>
<p>He signed up for several “camps”: Boston College, Harvard, NE Elite. These were in June and July. It was important that he had established contact and rapport with coaches prior to going. There are 100s of kids at these camps and it appeared to me that most schools went with a list of players to “check out”. Luckily he performed well at these camps.</p>
<p>At this point, schools called and asked him to attend one of their “Prospect” Days. It was a dog and pony show where the coaches were selling the school and their football program. Anywhere from 8-20 kids were there, depending on the school. This was in the July period I think.</p>
<p>After that, it came down to how interested the coach was. My son had 8 coaches (6 NESCAC!) offer him a “slot”, with their “support” for admission. That is different than a “tip”, where the coach can tell admissions that they like you, but they are not offering you a spot.</p>
<p>Then come the overnights. My son didn’t do many of these, because he had made up his mind which school he wanted to attend. In fact, he let the coach know on Labor Day! My sense is that this is early, but my son wasn’t the kind that wanted to prolong the process. he hated the attention, the phone calls etc. He’s a pretty private, quiet kid.</p>
<p>After he made the decision, he called each coach that had offered him a slot to tell them of his decision. He didn’t WANT to, but it was the right thing to do. It was hard. We had started the process looking for ONE good school, and had ended up with an embarrassment of riches. But we felt the coaches deserved this, as they were all really good along the process. It was probably harder on my son than the coaches as they do this all the time.</p>
<p>Then the application process. You have to apply and do EVERYTHING all the other non-sport applicants do. And even with the “support” it was still nerve-wracking! But he heard from his 1st choice ED in December and it was over!</p>
<p>Hope this helps. It is quite a process and there is no doubt that parental support is crucial. Lots of clerical stuff and reminders and gentle prodding … and most kids in this position have tough classes and lots of activities on top of the sports commitment.</p>
<p>@FourMoreYears–I actually printed out your post a few months ago and turned it into a checklist. Did everything you suggested, albeit with about 1/2 the number of schools. So far things have played out about like they did for your son. I hope we have as much success this summer and fall as you did! Thanks!</p>
<p>That’s awesome bellybones … wishing you nothing but the best in your pursuit. There will come a period where the calls, e-mails etc may stop or lighten up … but don’t get discouraged these coaches are just plain busy. Stay proactive and most importantly stay focused on school. It doesn’t matter how good a player is if they don’t pull the grades, it’s tough to get admitted to a NESCAC. My son had a great academic Junior year and fall of Senior year and I think it helped. Keep us updated, glad to have been of any help at all. :-)</p>