College coaches won’t always be there to watch a student-athlete’s best plays, so it’s important to capture footage at games to include in a lacrosse highlight video that can be shared online with coaches. These videos don’t have to be complicated, but they do need to include what college coaches are looking for when evaluating prospects. In the section below, we’ve answered how to make a highlights video for men’s lacrosse, where to post or upload your lacrosse recruiting video and more.
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What do college coaches look for in a lacrosse highlight video?
College coaches don’t want one dimensional athlete, so a student-athlete’s lacrosse highlight video should represent all aspects of their game. Highlight video is an athlete’s opportunity to impress college coaches with their versatility, lacrosse IQ and athleticism in a few brief minutes. Coaches want to see performance at lacrosse tournaments, showcases and college prospect days against challenging competition. If a highlights video is done right, skill footage shouldn’t be necessary, as the athlete’s skills are best showcased in action during game footage.
How long should a lacrosse highlight video be?
Student-athletes only have a short amount of time to capture the attention of college coaches. With that in mind, highlight video should be under four minutes with 20-30 great plays that demonstrate a variety of skills and athleticism. Both field players and goalies should include primarily game footage.
How to make a highlight video for men’s lacrosse
College coaches are looking for footage taken at multiple varsity or club games that gives them a clear and complete picture of an athlete’s abilities. This might be a student-athlete’s first opportunity to demonstrate their lacrosse IQ, versatility and athleticism to college coaches, especially for athletes who compete outside of the northeast region, where the majority of lacrosse programs are located. To create the best possible highlight video, follow the tips below.
- Take video at multiple varsity and club games to ensure the athlete has enough footage to build out their highlights video with a variety of plays against strong competition.
- To get the best perspective, shoot your video from an elevated perspective, such as the stands or a press box.
- Take stable footage using a tripod. Tripods are made for both tablets and smartphones. Athletes can also rent a good camera to shoot the video.
- Always shoot footage in landscape to capture the widest possible view when using a phone or tablet.
- Zoom in enough to see the jersey numbers, foot skills, and technical ability, but zoom out enough to capture the progression of the play and multiple players.
- Don’t lose track of the ball or the primary player.
- Shoot footage with a wide angle to show the progression of each play, as well as athletes working with their teammates.
- Capture footage as if the field is separated into thirds (offensive, middle, defensive). Film the entire section when the ball is in that third.
- Athletes should ask their high school and/or club coach to see if they have any game footage that they can use in their highlight video.
- To avoid distracting from the video, the individual shooting the video should keep cheering to a minimum.
Game footage vs. skills footage
The great thing about game footage is that it showcases a student-athlete’s skills. Rather than shooting separate skills footage for a highlights video, student-athletes should select game footage that highlights their skills in action. This allows college coaches to study a student-athlete’s athletic ability as they make decisions in high-pressure situations, lead the execution of plays, communicate with teammates and take control of the game.
Getting on a coach’s radar is easier said than done—but a standout lacrosse skills video can help recruits showcase their skills and get noticed, even without a sport season! The best part about filming a lacrosse skills video is that recruits don’t need specific locations or expensive equipment. Instead, they need to make sure they showcase their consistency and athletic skillset on a technical level.
Former D3 Head Coach and D1 Assistant Coach Greg Rosenberg advises men’s lacrosse skills video should include:
- Cross-handed catching, wall ball and rebounder drills
- Cradling, shooting and over-the-shoulder passes
- Clearing (defenders and middles) and riding (offensive players)
- Anything that shows change of direction, speed, strength and agility
Position specific college lacrosse video guidelines
College coaches definitely look for different skills across the four lacrosse positions. To really catch the eye of a college coach, student-athletes need to understand exactly what coaches are looking for in their position before they can create a highlights video. In the sections below, we detail which skills goalies, attackers, midfielders and defenders should focus on when selecting clips for their lacrosse highlight video.
Lacrosse goalie highlight video
College coaches want goalies with strong leadership skills who act as vocal leaders on the field. In highlight video, they want to see goalies embrace this responsibility and lead the team during competitions. To demonstrate this, goalie highlight video should capture game-time footage of strong communication with defenders. Include game-time footage of big saves, clears, athleticism outside the cage and smart body and foot positioning. College coaches will also want to see how a goalie’s clearing game can create a fast break scoring chance for the offense.
Lacrosse highlight video for field players
College coaches want to see field players master their responsibilities during a competition. For offensive players, coaches want to see scoring, assists, athletic offensive plays, strong transitions and good groundball hustle. For defensive players, the highlight video shows focus on strong one vs. one play, good takeaways after turnover, ground balls in transition play, stick skills and good double teams to show overall good team defense. Below is a deeper look into what coaches look for in each position.
- Attack: Build a highlights video that communicates the athlete’s confidence in handling the ball in high pressure situations and leading the offense through clear communication. Include clips of scoring highlights, great change in direction and vision, great feeds and terrific rides. To show that the athlete is versatile, consider including footage of the athlete playing both right and left-handed.
- Midfielder: College coaches want to see middies dominate on the field, guided strong defensive skills and vision. Include footage of winning faceoffs, speed during transitions, scoring highlights, great feeds and groundballs plays.
- Defenders: A defender’s highlight video should communicate that the player is a physical presence on the field that takes control of the game and their competitors. College coaches are looking for strong technical skills and confidence handling the ball. Include footage of clearing game threats, takeaways, groundball plays and physical defense.
How to organize and edit highlight video
After capturing footage at a variety of varsity games, it’s time to review and edit the video down to less than four minutes of content. Identify 20-30 great plays that best communicate what college coaches are looking for in the student-athlete’s position. The first 30 seconds of a highlight video should grab coaches’ attention. Start the video with a truly exceptional play that will impress the coach and entice them to continue watching. Following the strong opening, include clips that hit all the key skills for the athlete’s position. To ensure the college coaches that are watching can easily follow the primary athlete in each club, athletes can use an arrow, circle or stoplight to distinguish themselves in each play.
At both the beginning and end of the video, athletes should include their name, email and phone number, as well as their coach’s contact information. This small detail will make it easy for a college coach to pick up the phone and follow up with the athlete (if the video is viewed after September 1 of the athlete’s junior year) or the athlete’s coach to learn more.
Where to post or upload your lacrosse recruiting video
What are the best sites on which to post lacrosse recruiting video? Recruiting video should live on the student-athlete’s NCSA recruiting profile where college coaches will be able to easily access it. Student-athletes are also encouraged to post the video to YouTube to further their visibility. Student-athletes should title their video “[Full Name] Lacrosse Recruiting Video Class of 20[XX]” and include a link to their recruiting profile in the description. Once the video is uploaded, send an email to college coaches with the unique link that YouTube provides.