Welcome to the Kings Hammer March College Recruiting Newsletter! The club is excited to work with you to accomplish all of your player’s goals for this upcoming calendar year, on and off of the soccer field. Each month, we will be providing this resource to not only help you navigate the craziness that is the college recruiting process, but also provide personal development materials and resources to assist in growing individually while living a more purpose and value-driven lifestyle. We hope you find value in this newsletter and are excited to assist in this exciting process for your family!

Creating a Highlight Video

College coaches are always looking for players to improve their rosters and recruiting classes, and one of the easiest and quickest ways to catch a coach’s attention anywhere and anytime is by putting together and sending a highlight video of yourself. Furthermore, COVID-19 has completely changed college recruiting for the foreseeable future. More than ever before, creating a highlight video that helps you stand out as a player can be a tremendous asset for players. Below are five strategies to consider when creating your highlight video to help you stand out from the crowd!

• Start your video strong- Some coaches receive dozens of highlight videos each day, so it is important that you highlight your best qualities and clips right away. Make a positive impression by leading your video with your top plays.
• Keep it short- It is better to include too little and leave the coach wanting more film as opposed to including too much and the coach losing interest. Involve your best moments and try to keep your video to 3-5 minutes tops. If a coach responds asking for more film, your video was a hit!
• Include all phases of the game- As a forward, it is important to showcase your goalscoring ability. But are you dominant in the air? A good pressing player? Can you fly past players with your speed? Do your best to show yourself in different areas on the field, and doing different things.
• Highlight yourself- Make things easy on the coach by highlighting yourself in each clip. By keeping the focus on you, you keep the attention of the coach. You can highlight yourself by using an arrow, circle, spotlight, or many other tools.
• Include contact info- At the beginning and end of your video, include contact information to help assist the college coach in reaching out to you, or any references you may have.

Ultimately, your willingness to get your video to as many coaches as possible and your work ethic in following-up, asking questions, and communicating will assist in building relationships with college coaches (we will discuss this in a later newsletter). However, nothing gets the relationship off to a better start than having an eye-catching highlight video. The above tips should assist you in creating a video reel that gets you on the radar of your dream school and one step closer to playing collegiate soccer!

Remember that ALL Kings Hammer High School age group players have a FREE account on the Sports Recruits platform.  This is a great tool for you to utilize in the college search and recruiting process.  This includes a video editing resource located in the athlete profile.  You can find more information on using video in your recruiting as well as guides on creating and using video by clicking the links below:

• Sports Recruits Resources-Past Webinars
• The Importance of Video in Recruiting
• How to Use the Highlight Reel Editor

Personal Development- What is My Why?

Hopefully you have been following along on previous Personal Development suggestions (if not you can find past Newsletters on our website.) If so, you should have a list of goals that you are aspiring to accomplish this year as well as a list of core values that are important to you and will help guide you in your everyday life. This section of our newsletter will help us to try to tie both of those ideas together with one sentence that you can view as your own personal mission statement that motivates, inspires, and guides you during whatever life may throw at you.

Before we dive into developing your mission statement, ask yourself this question: “What is my Why?” Your own personal why refers to your sense of purpose, a culmination of your values and goals that allows you to focus your efforts on what matters most, compelling you to take risks and push forward regardless of the odds or challenges. If you are sitting here reading this thinking “I have no idea what my life’s purpose is,” you are not alone. In all reality, many people much older than you probably have the same answer! While you may not know your life’s purpose or your why right now, here are four questions that you can ask yourself from Forbes magazine that can help you get a little bit closer.

1. What makes you come alive? Think about what you are passionate about.
2. What are your innate strengths? Think about the things you’ve always been good at.
3. Where do you add the most value? Think about the problems you really enjoy solving.
4. How will you measure your life? Think about the things you want the most.

Take some time to answer the above questions. After doing so, try to come up with one brief, powerful statement that will inspire and guide you on your path through life. This can be referred to as your own personal mission statement. An example of a personal mission statement can be found below:

“I want to be somebody that is on a relentless pursuit of growth, learning, and achievement while keeping my relationships with friends and family at the center of my life.”

Your mission statement should be personal to YOU! Without any specific structure in mind, do your best to create a 1-2 sentence mission statement that you can refer to each and every day.

Click here to view the Simon Sinek – Start with Why Video

Monthly Help Links from SportsRecruits

• Favoriting and Messaging Schools From the Activity Feed
• Why Can’t I See Which College Coaches are Viewing my Profile?

College Commitments

• Natalie Bain – Xavier University
• Eleanor Simkonis – Cleveland State University
• Mya Gerak – University of Kentucky
• Summer Denigan – Florida State University
• Marina Ruthsatz – Wright State University
• Claire Wiseman – Ohio Northern University
• Faith Broering – University of Cincinnati
• Jade Rehberger – Illinois State University
• Danielle Hicks – Ashland University
• Maddy Murphy – Eastern Kentucky University
• Annie Isphording – Johns Hopkins University
• Kali Funk – Ashland University
• Ella Madden – Ohio Northern University
• Molly McNeill – Cedarville University
• Sarah Zimmerman – Washington and Lee University
• Morgan Gerak – Michigan State University
• Katie Adams – Ohio Wesleyan University
• Meg Gessner – Northern Kentucky University
• Emily Duffey – Hanover College
• Sydney Noble – University of Findlay
• Kaitlyn Siefert – University of Findlay
• Chloe Spitzer – Berea College
• Shyanne Iles – University of Southern Illinois
• CJ DeBra – Youngstown State University
• Sarah Henson – Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
• Courtney Lindgren – California University of Pennsylvania
• Jackson Byrd – Mount St. Joseph University
• Leo Bill – Transylvania University
• Adam Gritton – Spalding University
• Amber Branum – Wright State University
• Tyron Reynolds – Spalding University
• Abby Cole – Mount Saint Joseph University
• Ella Madden – Fairmont State University
• Shannon Crogan – Northern Kentucky University
• Jon Gordon – Asbury University

2023 Verbal College Commitments:

• Amanda Schlueter – Ohio State University
• Sophie Decker – Marian University
• Ruby Dunlevy – Eastern Kentucky University

Remember to post your commitment to your Sports Recruits account and send commitment photos to info@kingshammer.com so that you can be recognized for your achievements.