In today’s world, athletes at every level face strict competition. This becomes more and more apparent as athletes inch closer to the college application process when many begin vying for elite athletic scholarship opportunities. 

Of course, when comparing the number of high school athletes against the number of college scholarships available for their sport, the opportunities are few and far between. Many of the athletes that apply for scholarships will be turned down. Paperwriter offers students paper writer service that inform you more on the subject. 

If you know how to make a highlight video, it can improve the chances of getting noticed by college coaching and recruiting staff. Getting noticed can help players who are hoping to obtain a scholarship stand out against the competition, increasing the overall odds that they will nab their dream scholarship package on signing day.

If you’re an athlete with big dreams for your future, read on to learn how to make a highlight video that puts you in the winner’s circle!

How to Make a Highlight Video that Gets You Noticed

First, you should know that not all highlight videos are created equal. Many of the videos submitted to colleges by student-athletes and their parents are difficult to watch, at best. But, knowing a few pro tips can help you create a highlight video that will place you in the lead for big-time college scholarship opportunities.

If you’re an amateur videographer, no worries. Even an amateur can pull off a 5-star highlight video if they know the right steps to take.

Here’s how to get started creating your very own hit highlight sports reel.

1. Run Tape of Sports Performances

It’s impossible to make a highlight video without video footage. That’s why you should make sure that all of your major athletic performances are taped. 

Since every one of your performances is not guaranteed to be highlight-reel-worthy, you’ll want to give yourself plenty of video footage to choose from. The only way to do that is to make sure someone is taping your events and that they are focusing on you, specifically, a substantial amount of the time that they are shooting.

Also, when choosing a videographer, you should keep a few things in mind. There’s no need to pay a lot of money to hire a professional, although you might consider this option. But, an amateur is fine as long as they are willing to follow a few simple guidelines.

First, they need to be dependable so that you can count on them to show up and do “their job”. Secondly, they need to have a steady hand so that the video doesn’t turn out to be complete rubbish. Third, they need to be able to perform basic video functions, like zooming in, zooming out, and so on.

If your team subscribes to a sports video website that allows team member uploading, such as Hudl, you can also pull from these videos when you create your personalized highlight video. However, it’s not ideal to rely solely on team-uploaded videos, as they may not include sufficient coverage of individual players for your highlight reel.

2. There’s an App for That

Today, there’s an app for practically everything. And, if you know how to make use of the right ones, you can easily construct a professional-grade highlight video in no time.

The iTunes app is one of the most popular apps for streaming music. And, today, it’s becoming one of the most common choices for uploading video as well. Another advantage of using iTunes for video uploading is that it makes it easy to merge music and video together for a potentially more-powerful and emotionally-charged highlight reel.

If you aren’t familiar with how to add movies to iTunes, the process is quite simple and can be done in just minutes once you get the hang of it. Setapp includes detailed instructions for encoding, adding metadata, and uploading your video. The Setapp website also offers helpful recommendations of additional apps specially created to make it easier to construct your own pro video.

3. Tips for Editing

Once you’ve decided on the most flattering video clips, cut, and uploaded them so that the entire video culmination doesn’t exceed five minutes, then you’re ready to edit. If your video doesn’t add up to equal a full five minutes, don’t worry. Most coaches and recruiters will only watch the first couple of minutes of the video, anyway.

Because you’ve relied on apps, editing is usually made much simpler. Many of today’s apps include editing features that are easy-to-use and will guide you through the final touches seamlessly.

Colleges aren’t expecting expert highlight videos, so yours need not be perfect prior to submission. But, you should still follow a few basic rules when performing your final edits.

First, review your entire video to make sure that each clip transitions easily to the next. Hopefully, you’ve already chosen the best video clips to feature first, but if not, now is the time to make any rearrangements that might be necessary.

Second, eliminate any video that is fuzzy, shaky, or otherwise poor-quality. Like most people, a collegiate staff probably isn’t interested in watching a video featuring blank spaces or ground-shots. In fact, each clip should be quick and concise and easily transition to the next.

Some players choose to add music to their highlight reel, although if you choose this option, be mindful of music choices that cater to a universal audience.

It’s also rather easy to include simple edits that showcase individual players, such as flames or circles. Feel free to incorporate these types of edits if you choose. However, it may be a good idea to also incorporate footage that doesn’t include these features as well.

Once you’re happy with the overall video, and it’s clear that the viewers will know which player they are watching, you can consider it mail-ready.

4. Don’t Limit Your Choices

Now that your video is ready for its final send-off, don’t cut yourself short by limiting your choices to one or two college picks. Few athletes will receive a scholarship based on sports, but even fewer will receive a full scholarship to one to the very best-performing schools.

Make a list of five or ten schools, at a minimum, and send in your tape early in the admissions process to give yourself the best chance of receiving an offer.

Stay Up to Date on the Latest Sports News

If you’re interested in playing for the big leagues, it will serve you well to learn how to make a highlight video. But, you should also form a habit of staying abreast of the latest news and developments in the modern sports world. 

Visit our site to learn all about the latest and greatest current happenings in the world-wide sports arena and good luck in your pursuit of nailing your dream college scholarship! 

The luck of the Irish might be the reason why gambling is such a popular pastime in Ireland.

To understand just how popular it is, consider that the gaming authorities issue 32 new licenses for gaming machines every year for the past two years. The laws of the country are very relaxed, with casinos, sports betting, poker, bingo, and online slots all being opportunities for people to enjoy making a wager.

The National Approach

Though the national government leaves granting gaming licenses to the local governing agencies, the national economy receives a huge boost from the industry. Even though operators might be facing some tougher regulations in the near future, the taxes that the gambling operations pay (recently moved from 1% to 2%) is a large source of national revenue. It has also created jobs for the country. According to the data, the gambling market brings is worth an estimated 1.1 billion euros each year. Approximately 134 million euros come from gaming machines, 65 million from private clubs and casinos, 315 million from land-based betting, 65 million from bingo, and 310 million from lotteries.

In 2015, the government legalized online gambling, a factor that has significantly contributed to the growth of the industry in Ireland. A safe guesstimate is that online gambling alone sees about 220 million euros spent each year. The Irish government is able to use taxation to reap the benefits of a robust, nationally-favored industry, but some businesses are looking into new ways to get in on the action. Even though it seems that the growing Irish betting trends are to engage in online wagering, the popularity of the industry has many bars turning into amusement arcades to increase both traffic and profit. There is more income potential for the online operators over the land-based activities, but either option brings more money to the Irish economy. Ireland has one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe, growing six times faster than its counterparts.

The Perks of Irish Gaming

Overall, the UK is much more liberal in its approach to gambling, though showing a more clearly relaxed approach with online gambling. The Irish people and bookies more quickly adopted and released online gaming sites, far outpacing the United States that recently legalized online gaming. Even though there are over 40,000 locations in Irish where the slots can be played, a number of online slots have opened and received just as much attention. One favored online slot site is Wizards Slots, which receives more activity than any other Irish site. However, the Irish market has several common household names on the gaming industry, with Paddy Power and Betfair being some of the most popular sites that accept Irish players. Betfair operates with a distinctly Irish theme that is easily recognized in their social media accounts, branding, and marketing campaigns. Popular Irish-themed slot operations are Irish Clover, Irish Frenzy, and Irish Riches.

Some prefer the old fashioned feel of the table, but in the absence of a local gaming room, the Irish can go online to play live table games. Through a setup that feels like sitting at a table in a casino, the Irish can try their hands at Roulette, Blackjack, and poker. Online operators also offer bingo, and for the sporting enthusiast, Paddy Power also offers fantasy sports betting. There is something for everyone in Ireland, as there are also online options for betting on political events.

The Blind Love of the Gamble

There is no doubt that the Irish love a good gamble. Though historians can trace betting practices back as early as the 15^th century, the first legislation wasn’t passed until 1926, just four years after the country became a free state. In 1988, three bookmakers partnered together to form Paddy Power. The organization has grown to over 600 shops across Ireland and the UK, and when their online presence became live in 2000, it became a gambling powerhouse. Not only does the revenue generated from the operations help the country financially, but they also have more than 1,700 employees running their operations. However, if you take a good look at the statistics, the Irish aren’t that lucky when it comes to gambling. For this reason, perhaps their love is blind. One of the latest reports showed that the Irish were the third biggest losers in the world in the gambling arena, with an average loss of 470 euros per adult. More disconcerting is the rising number of problem gambling statistics, jumping from a 7% increase in adults suffering from a gambling addiction to 9.5% in 2017. Not all of these losses are because of a bad wager. Since there is an open policy with online gaming, many Irish lose their money at a bad betting site, falling into the trap of an illegitimate bookmaker.

For some Irish, the love for the gambling industry goes far deeper than just a good and successful wager. The gambling industry has become a part of Irish culture that financially supports its healthy economy and creates jobs and entertainment for millions.