The New York Times today featured an interesting article about posting recruiting videos on the web.

The article basically says that more and more athletes are posting highlights clips on the web for college coaches to view. And in fact, college coaches -- who aren't always the most tech savvy folks -- are watching them there. As a great case in point, the article mentions a video posted by high school athlete April Carson, in which April drains seven three pointers.

One of the coolest things about this video is its simplicity. It's a grainy hand-held video camera, simple editing (probably with iMovie,) and good music with pulse overlaying it all. College athletic recruiting should be simple. This is a perfect example of that principle. This is the sort of video that you could film, edit, and post to the web in an afternoon. You don't have to get all fancy. Simplicity works just fine, which is great news for high school athletes.

Most importantly, college coaches are watching video on the web:

"For their part, recruiters use the Web to find prospects they might otherwise have missed, without leaving their desks. Players, coaches and athletes have long sent videotapes to recruiters, but online highlights have added ease and immediacy to the process and helped lower the age at which recruiting begins."

But video isn't the be all end all. As Chris Gobrecht, the Yale University women's basketball coach says in the article: “The problem is that you can’t see well or judge if someone will truly help your team from just a video.” This is why video is important, but not that important. You can catch a coach's eye with a video, but at the end of the day, they're going to want to see you play in person.

Bottom line: don't spend a ton of money or time creating a video. Keep it simple, send it to coaches, and you'll make a lot of progress.

Learn the most important things about baseball recruitment and baseball scholarships. Or maybe you're more interested in softball scholarships.

5 tips for communicating with college coaches:

• Write a cover letter and resume introducing yourself to college coaches


• Follow up on your cover letter and resume; don't be deterred if you don't hear back from coaches


• Send a schedule of your games and tournaments to college coaches


• Provide regular updates and progress reports -- maintain monthly contact with each coach
• Make a highlights video

There is much more to know about contacting college coaches.

A highlight reel shouldn't last longer than ten minutes. After your 10,000th goalasso, it becomes tiresome.

Run-of-play videos can feature 10-20 minute uninterrupted spans, or last an entire half. Whether a coach will watch it all is another matter. But at least extended play is available if he's inclined to watch.

If you use extended, run-of-play footage, provide a key that identifies you and your role at specific times on the video. Do at least a little editing, by cutting out footage when you?re not on the field. Keep the total running time under 45 minutes.

Many high school athletes mistakenly believe that they should only put goals, touchdowns, tomahawk dunks, etc. on their recruiting videos.

Actually, you should incorporate all kinds of clips in your video. Even if the outcome is not heroic, clips of you defending, dribbling, passing, and even just running can be useful for a coach.

If you made a really nice run in which you won a tackle and then beat a defender, only to have your shot blocked, don't disregard the clip. College coaches are well aware that not every play ends with a goal.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the actual content of a recruiting video.

Most coaches prefer edited clips. Yet there are a few who like to watch recruits' games in full. If most of your candidate coaches are asking for a short highlight video, you'll know which format to use. You can also be diplomatic and incorporate elements of each.

"Which one is she? That's the worst question a college coach can ask when he watches your recruiting video. You spend a lot of time editing your video and then the coach can't even tell which player you are.

Ask yourself: "Will coaches be able to tell who I am?"

Figure out how the coach will be able to identify you on the screen. Your best bet is probably your jersey number, if it's legible. If you can't create titles on the screen, describe in the introduction how you can be identified throughout the video.

Beyond your jersey number, mention the position you play so the viewer knows where to look. You might also have the filmer give some play-by-play commentary, just to clarify when you have the ball.

Other distinguishing features can be useful such as alternate shirt colors, outlandish hairstyles, silver boots, whatever. Just make sure that the coach can pick you out when he watches the video.

Take a minute at the beginning of the tape to introduce yourself.

Speak clearly, confidently, and enthusiastically into the camera. Don't be afraid to distinguish yourself from all the other high school athletes out there with a few personal details like, “My favorite animal is the kangaroo,” or “I am an avid collector of beetles,” or “I like the sound of subway brakes.”

Be enthusiastic and willing to smile. Players tend to be overly serious on their videos. You don't have to be giddy like the local weatherman, but coaches want real, vibrant, dynamic people, not automatons.

Better, more enjoyable videos tend to start with a brief introduction and an explanation of how the viewer can identify the player on the screen.

After that, it's on to the action footage.

In having your play evaluated, highlight videos are useful, but their importance is overrated. Whether or not you make a video usually won't make or break your campaign. It's just another tool that you provide a coach to help him make an informed decision.

Many of the videos coaches receive are garbage anyway. Some videos look like they've been filmed during a cataclysmic earthquake. If it's not that, often the quality of the video is so grainy that players are little more than blurs on the screen. Some are sleep inducing. Others are downright painful.

A video of poor quality will not further your cause. Unless you feel like you can produce a video with quality footage, don't waste your time or certainly your money on a production company. If a coach requests a video and you can't provide something decent, let him know.

If he's adamant, send him what you've got, maybe with a little disclaimer. Let him know if you feel that what you're sending is inadequate and doesn't do your play justice. At least he knows what he's getting into.

Before you're offered a spot on a college team, the coach will usually want to see you play in person. A highlights video is not a substitute for seeing you play in person.

A video is, however, a good way to convince the coach to come see you play. In sending a coach a video, you're just trying to whet his appetite—to distinguish yourself as someone he should seek out.

I've heard from others that about 5 minutes should be the maximum length of a video. What do you recommend? - Chuck

First things first. Videos are not that important. Let's say it again, videos are not that important. They are not a make-or-break recruiting component. Do one only if you can do it with decent production and picture quality. Think of your video as just another tool that will convince college coaches to come see you play in person.

Each college coach has his own preferences when it comes to videos, sort of how everyone has different taste in movies. Hollywood didn't make multiple versions of the Incredible Hulk (thankfully -- one was enough!) And you shouldn't make multiple videos to appease college coaches.

Just make one that's about 10-15 minutes long. Include as many highlights and normal sequences of play that you're involved in. Most importantly, include a little context -- 5-10 seconds on each side of the play -- so the coach can see the build up and how it turned out.

While most coaches will tell you that they just want you to get down to business, we think that you should entertain them a bit. Face it, they're watching dozens of recruiting videos each week. Why not make yours stand out with some humor, good music, or an interview as if you're in the ESPN Hot Seat?