Special Episode – Todd Denoyer, QwikCut
On today’s episode, I speak with Todd Denoyer of QwikCut. We talk about all things video, including how there platform is unique and multifaceted. Then we discuss his top tips for those going through the recruiting process. Learn more about QwikCut.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by Todd from quick cut. Welcome Todd.
Todd: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. Um, you know, I try to sprinkle in some non college coach podcasts, uh, to, to help folks along their, their journey of talk to some of the, the video platforms like pixel art and, uh, Uh, you know, replayer and some of those folks and then some, some other video folks and some highlight video folks.
And, and I, I stumbled upon you guys and you’re here in Florida. So, you know, I got to show some Florida love, but, uh, you guys have an interesting kind of setup where you’re, you’re doing some analytics for teams, but also some highlight player stuff, kind of give me a broad spectrum of, of what all you guys cover.
Todd: So, uh, we’ve been videotaping in the state of Florida for about 20 years, um, did a lot of soccer. Um, and then the AI cameras kind of took over the soccer market. Um, we have a platform, a pretty robust platform, similar to huddle. I tell people were the alternative to huddle, a much better price point and we offer a lot more features, um, unlimited storage and, um, our, our analytics goes into detail with the stats where, um, you know, Um, an athlete can filter on a particular stat.
And, and find that for the entire season and then build a highlight based on that. So [00:01:30] if it’s their assists, or maybe it’s scores, or maybe it’s shots on goal, whatever it may be, they can pull all those up very easily, uh, watch those, and then move those over to our highlight editor. And create a highlight with those particular stats.
So they can create a, uh, all their positive stats. They can create a highlight just of those stats. Um, and then they can put the best of the best in a different highlight that they want, maybe want to showcase to college coaches.
Matt: Okay, cool. So if I’m, so I, you know, I help coach my daughters. Oh, eight girls team.
And, and we’ve got a, um, a VO camera, you know, shout out to VO cause they, they do help sponsor this podcast. So got to give them some love when it comes to the AI, uh, powered cameras. Um, so if we have our VO games, I can then just effectively, I’ll, I can upload those into your platform and. My daughter, an individual player per se, can then go through and filter out all of their stats per game, per season, and, and then say, okay, drop this into a, still on your platform, drop it into a highlight editor and create, uh, an output of a highlight tape.
Is that how that works?
Todd: Correct. But the real magic comes with us being able to give the head coach. Access to every college coach, so and their assistance. So we [00:03:00] go through and we update our college coaches list. And now you have a way to send that highlight or highlights or just a stat sheet, or just communicate with college coaches.
And so the athletes are allowed to send it to the college Twitter page for soccer, but only the head coach has the ability to send it to the coaches email address.
Matt: Okay. So it is, if I, if I may, um, sorry, got the dogs barking in the background. If I may, uh, if I’m a team with a subscription, so does each the, it sounds like the coach has their login to, to be able to do that, but each player has a separate login as well.
Is that, is it the subscription player based or team based or how does that work?
Todd: It’s team based, and so as the admin on the account, you can get into or grab anybody’s highlights. So there’s a team highlight page where the team admin can go and see all of the highlights that have been created or are under construction.
And so what is, uh, Coming out this summer sometime is a full blown recruiting platform, allowing the kids to go in, see every college at every level, um, see what the requirements are to play at that level. Um, from the academics to the coach being able to sense whether they’ve got the ability to play at, uh, N.
A. I. D. 2, [00:04:30] D. 3, um, D. 1. And then you can, you know, The system will filter on based on your academics and your playing level will give you a list of colleges. That would be a good fit for you to be successful. And then that head coach can reach out to those coaches and say, Hey, I’ve got a couple of athletes here that, uh, like what they see at your program.
And here’s their highlights.
Matt: Wow. Okay. That, that sounds like it’s going to be a nice addition. Um, so in terms of. Uh, the highlights, because I think 1 of the things I keep stressing to folks is, you know, that’s really the, that’s the gateway, right? Like, that’s the, that’s the way to, to, to get that 1st contact or to have a coach get 1st interested.
It’s, you know, people worry about exposure and what leagues and showcases and whatnot, but you’ve got to get their attention 1st. And that’s generally going to be with that highlight tape. So what, what have you seen or some of the. Yeah. You know, I, I guess best practices, if you want to call it or, or things that kids have done to really help themselves stand out when creating that highlight video.
Todd: Well, it kind of, I’ll back it up. Uh, it’s before the highlight gets created, you got to have good video. Um, if you don’t have good video, you’re going to have a tough time putting together a highlight and circling what looks like an ant that’s me. Um, and so sometimes the AI cameras just don’t get close enough.
To, for, for, for somebody to analyze somebody’s footwork or somebody’s, uh, [00:06:00] abilities, agilities. And so, you know, you’ll see a lot of parents. At soccer field, trying to film their own kids, the iPhone shoots great, but you’ve got to be close enough in order to get good video with an iPhone. And so if the AI cameras are, are not calibrated, or they’re just a little bit too far away, um, they’re going to want to spend a little bit of money and have somebody shooting video of their child to get that great footage.
You hate to have all of that money spent on great footage and then. The kid doesn’t do a whole lot that game. And so once you’ve got that great footage that then our editor makes it easy, you can, you can animate with a circle, with an arrow, with a fireball or whatever it may be, and, uh, put down what. You know, what agility you’re wanting to show off, uh, for that part of the highlight.
Matt: Okay. Well, but in terms of just, let’s say we’ve got the video and it’s good. What have you seen? Kind of, again, maybe the, the best, best practices for kids in terms of creating that highlight ones that get the most interest, what, what are some of the common themes you see running through those?
Todd: So be careful that kids don’t get too caught up with, Views, um, other kids viewing, you know, if you’re showing this to colleges and that’s what you want this highlight for, show your skill set, skill set.
Don’t show all of your goals or all of your assists, um, unless [00:07:30] there’s a little bit of variety in each one of those that can really show off your skill set. And so, um, you know, make a list of what you feel your skill set is, and then go and find those clips. They may not be glamorous to the other. High school kid, um, that’s viewing it, but that’s what the college coach is going to want to see as your skillset.
Matt: Yeah, no, that makes sense. Well, it looks like besides the, the, the stat breakdowns and the highlight builder through the team subscription, you know, sometimes, uh, you know, clubs all over the country have varying, uh, ability to shoot video or varying ability for the team to invest in certain technologies, but, but maybe certain Kids, parents, families want a little bit extra.
So it looks like you guys, uh, have some sort of, of, of highlight tape builder or service that you can offer for, for folks who maybe aren’t that great on the computer or don’t know what to do with it, or don’t know where to start. Cause I get those questions all the time. It’s okay. I don’t know what to do.
Where do I go? Uh, what, what can you offer folks who need that kind of help?
Todd: So in order for us to build a highlight. Uh, with we call soccer a continuous sport. It’s kind of like basketball lacrosse. Um, it’s imperative that we have the stats. And so, for us to do a, a great highlight, we want to have the stats done of those games.
Families can upload their video. We’ll [00:09:00] give them a price based on 3 games, 6 games, 10 games, an entire season if we want. And then we can go through those stats and find the best of the best. Um, we use a star system. So five stars, the best play, uh, four stars, not, you know, just underneath that and so on so that we can, um, easily put the best of the best at the front of the video.
You want to capture their attention. Um, you don’t want a whole bunch of views that are only watching for three seconds. And, uh, you don’t always see that when you’re looking at highlights, you, you know, Oh, I got a thousand views yet, but they shut it off after three seconds, 900 of them did. And so you’ve got to put the best of the best up in front.
So they continue to watch as, as long as you capture their attention. Keep it short. Two and a half, three minutes. That’s all you’re going to need. Uh, some guys are insistent upon a 10 minute highlight and nobody’s going to watch that. Maybe grandma will, but, uh, that’s about it.
Matt: Yeah. Yeah. College coaches, attention spans, uh, you know, it’s not, not so much your attention spans, just the time they have to go through hundreds and hundreds of these, uh, you know, there’s just not enough hours in the day.
Um, well, what else have you kind of seen, uh, In terms of trends, whether it’s around highlight tapes, around video, around recruiting profiles or anything else. In the recruiting space that maybe folks should know about,
Todd: um, clean up their social media if they need to, or create their social media, they need to advertise themselves, [00:10:30] um, especially, uh, sports like soccer and lacrosse where, um, you really need to.
Market yourself. Um, if you’re a standout, yeah, they might come and find you, but, uh, more than likely, you’re going to have to market yourself. So do that with social media and do it the right way. Um, and then create highlights. Every time you’ve got video, create that highlight and post it out on social media.
Our system allows you to. Uh, post it on all of your social media. You can download the video. It doesn’t cost you anything. Our competitor, uh, charges. I think it’s 17 or 18 to download the highlight. Um, we don’t care what you do with it. It’s your highlight. Get yourself out there and exposed.
Matt: Well, Todd, I really appreciate you kind of giving us some insights into what you guys are doing, and I’m looking forward to seeing the new additions, uh, that are coming this summer.
And, uh, if there’s any, uh, any way we can help or, or, or anything else that new comes along, make sure to let us know and we’ll get it out there. Everybody will do. Appreciate you having me. Thanks, Todd. All right. Take care.
