8 Things Every Parent Can do to Help with Recruiting

Follow these easy steps to make your son and/or daughter a more recruitable athlete…

 

  1. Do NOT overstep your bounds. If I have said it once, I have said it a hundred times….the coach will be recruiting your son and/or daughter, NOT you.
  2. Be very supportive of your son and/or daughter. I know they are going through their teenage years and this one can be tough, but remember, you were once a teenager (even if they don’t acknowledge) and times can be tough.
  3. Make sure your son and/or daughter will actually have a chance to go to college. There are tons of hoops to jump through nowadays, and you want to make sure your child has them all covered.
  4. Create a nice, clean highlight tape that is available on YouTube. Remember, you do NOT have to be an award winning director to create a great video.
  5. Review possible questions that a coach might ask your son and/or daughter. Role play if you will. Make sure your child speaks clearly, slowly and is looking you in the eyes.
  6. Do research on schools and try as hard as you can to take some trips to the schools on NON sports days. Sure, every school looks amazing on game day, but that is not reality. It will only look like that about six weekends per year. Go to the campus on a Tuesday, see what is really like. Go during different seasons so you can truthfully understand the different weather the area might have.
  7. Be sure your son is getting the right type of exposure from the right people. Just because someone tells you something, doesn’t mean it is true. Ask around, ask other parents. Do your homework.
  8. Allow your kid to be on social media, but make sure they know you are monitoring them. Nothing personal to the athletes, but they are young and they are dumb (sorry, it’s true and the reason I know it’s true is because every single adult was also, you guessed it, young AND dumb once as well) and they will make mistakes. The only difference is that when an adult used to be young and dumb, only the people that saw them do something ignorant knew about it. Now, with the onslaught of social media, the world can know about it in less than a second. Even saying that, there are so many benefits to social media for them to be off of it (one of the first questions a coach will ask me, “is the kid on Facebook? Have him friend me so I can contact him”).

 

 

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Rubio Long Snapping is, by far, the biggest and best resource for Long Snappers in the country. Rubio has been featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the USA Today, Deadspin and countless other publications.

Offering the best instruction and most exposure in the world, Rubio Long Snapping can help you to become the best snapper you can be!

In just 15 years, Chris Rubio, President and Owner of Rubio Long Snapping, has become the #1 Long Snapping instructor in the country and the go-to man when a college coach needs a Long Snapper. Colleges from across the country rely on “Rubio’s” word day in and day out on who the best Long Snappers are in the country. Rubio Long Snapping has assisted in over 1,000 Long Snappers earning full scholarships and preferred walk-on opportunities to major colleges and universities just for Long Snapping and many into the NFL as well.

 

 

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Creating My Own Highlight Tape, Good Idea or Bad?

We are asked this question all the time:

Should I make my own Highlight Tape or have a professional do it?

If you look at investment of having a professional do it the right way vs. the potential awareness it will drive to you as a potential College Long Snapper the answer is pretty clear. Have a pro do it for you!

A Highlight tape in most cases is the one shot you have to impress a college coach in just a few short seconds. It is essential that it is done professionally and clearly defines you and your skill set. When choosing a Film maker consult with Rubio Long Snapping prior as we know what makes the perfect Long Snapping Highlight Tape.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when developing a Highlight Tape:

  • Put your Best Clips at the beginning of the Tape, in some cases you only have a few seconds to catch the attention of college scouts.
  • Make sure you include a small bio, contact info, jersey colors, your number, GPA, SAT Score, etc.
  • Follow up, be persistent make sure the coaches received your tape and that they viewed it.
  • Leverage your online presence by showcasing the Video across all your Social Media Sites, Youtube Channels, Scouting Website Profiles, etc. you never know who will see it.

Prior to any attempt at creating a Highlight Tape consult with Rubio Long Snapping to guide in the right direction.

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Chris-Rubio-2Rubio Long Snapping is, by far, the biggest and best resource for Long Snappers in the country. Offering the best instruction and most exposure in the world. Rubio Long Snapping can help you to become the best snapper you can be!

In just 12 years, Chris Rubio, President and Owner of Rubio Long Snapping, has become the #1 Long Snapping instructor in the country and the go-to man when a college coach needs a Long Snapper. Colleges from across the country rely on “Rubio’s” word day in and day out on who the best Long Snappers are in the country. Rubio Long Snapping has assisted in over 300 Long Snappers earning FULL SCHOLARSHIPS to major colleges and universities just for Long Snapping and many into the NFL as well.

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10 Steps to Making a Great Highlight Tape for a Long Snapper

One of the most common questions I get is always about extended highlight tapes. Everyone wants to know about content, length, set up and delivery. Here is my answer in a quick and easy format.
Please note: you could easily just use the highlight tapes that I make for you at all Rubio Long Snapping camps as well if you’d like. Benefit: they are verified by me.
 
1. Your highlight tape should be available online on YouTube. 
  • Reason: YouTube NEVER goes down. It is able to be seen on EVERYTHING (computer, cell, tablet). I know many schools use Hudl but Hudl doesn’t always work on all devices.
2. Your highlight tape should have an intro (you spraying the basics – name, school, contact info, my contact info) and printed contact info on a screen or two.
  • Reason: A coach will want to make sure you are not a moron. Blunt, but completely true. You don’t have to recite a soliloquy but they should be able to tell you have a pulse. They will also want to know who to contact (you, your email, possible cell, my name and info, school, HS coach and his info). That is it. No need to put other nonsense (speeds, maxes and such as you are probably just lying anyway). You will want to put my info so they can you use me as a credible source. Some randoms info is going to be worthless to you as a coach won’t trust them. They will want someone that will be dead honest with them….hint, hint: me. 

3. Your highlight tape should be a heavy majority of punts and NOT pats. 

  • Reason: A monkey can do a pat. They aren’t that big a deal. The speed of the punt is what they are going to want to see. Ratio should be about 95% punts & the views should be from a front/side angle and total side view. They will want to see if there is an arch (arch = usually needs more speed). Please note: put your best snaps first!!! If you don’t catch their interest right off the bat, you are done.

4. Your highlight tape should show live snaps and practice footage. 

  • Reason: Game footage is obvious and I always recommend to have some practice snaps because it lets them see your body without pads. Also, it will allow them to see your form and you blocking (yes, you need to put those) a bit clearer and, if you can do it, you can put running tape on of some snaps. That is a huge win. Plus, if you have been to some quality camps, you are most likely better now than you were during the season. Improvement is a good thing.

5. Your highlight tape should be between three and ten minutes.

  • Reason: Your audience will be males. Males lose focus quickly. You don’t grab their attention pretty quick and you are going to have a huge loss on your plate. The only way I approve of a longer highlight tape if it is just ridiculously good (you’ll see what I mean at the end of this blog).

6. Your highlight tape should have no sound after you speak. NO MUSIC or RANDOM SPRAY

  • Reason: It is incredibly annoying and it just gets muted anyway. Trust me, I see hundreds per year and none of them have had the volume turned up. Please note: no one has actually had the guts to put on some silky smooth sounds of Lou Rawls or Teddy P so that might be the reason for immediate muting. 
  • Reason: No one wants to hear a mom yelling, dad cheering, grandma hitting someone with her cane (sorry, flashback) or any words written (.71 for 15 yards!). They, a coach, won’t even look at it and will just end up calling someone they can trust to get a time.

7. Your highlight tape does NOT need to be done by world class professionals. A couple of the best ones I have viewed were done on pretty cheap standard video cameras.

  • Reason: audience is males and they want a bottom line. It doesn’t have to be Avatar. 

8. Your highlight tape should focus on Long Snapping. Sounds basic enough, but you’d be surprised.

  • Reason: You want them to know how great a Long Snapper you are first and foremost. If you are going to show them highlights of another position or sport, they better be just that…HIGHLIGHTS. You want them to see something extraordinary, not just ordinary and it should be placed after your Long Snapping portion.

9. Your highlight tape should be edited well. Meaning, not a lot of wasted time on it. Example: waiting for thirty seconds on each snap while the punter remembers when to move his hands to be ready for your glorious snap or watching the returner run for a touchdown.

  • Reason: Again, your audience is males and they have short attention sp…..hey, look at that bird….just kidding, but you get my point…I hope.

10. Your highlight tape should be reviewed by someone who knows what the college coaches will want.

  • Reason: Simple, you want them to be pleased right off the bat and not wanting more or less.

Here are examples of a couple great ones….

Hope this helps and I look forward to a plethora of great highlight tapes….finally:)
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Chris-Rubio-2Rubio Long Snapping is, by far, the biggest and best resource for Long Snappers in the country. Offering the best instruction and most exposure in the world. Rubio Long Snapping can help you to become the best snapper you can be!

In just 12 years, Chris Rubio, President and Owner of Rubio Long Snapping, has become the #1 Long Snapping instructor in the country and the go-to man when a college coach needs a Long Snapper. Colleges from across the country rely on “Rubio’s” word day in and day out on who the best Long Snappers are in the country. Rubio Long Snapping has assisted in over 300 Long Snappers earning FULL SCHOLARSHIPS to major colleges and universities just for Long Snapping and many into the NFL as well.

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