Many parents ask me if they should have their daughters' videos on a personal website or uploaded to YouTube in regard to recruiting. The good news is either is acceptable. If you ask different college coaches what they prefer, they would all give you a different answer.

College coaches have very busy schedules. They take about 2-4 minutes to initially scan information about a recruit. Personal websites streamline the information for the college coach, as the gymnast's information is organized and it gives the coach easy access. This prevents coaches from having to search several locations to find your GPA, what year you graduate, or any other information they are looking to find. It is convenient to have everything in one location.

Most college coaches who are very interested in a recruit will start by Googling the gymnast's name or going to YouTube to see if there is video footage of the athlete. Therefore, either option is fine to utilize -- a personal website, YouTube, or even both.

If you choose YouTube for your videos, be sure you have accurate dates of your footage on each video. Also, be careful about what is being voiced in the footage and make sure it is appropriate for a college coach to hear. What you may think is "funny" can be inappropriate or unprofessional.

Some clubs are posting video footage on their websites, which is also helpful. This is also a great way to attract college coaches to your club, as they can see all the college hopefuls from your team.

If you choose a website, here is what information should be included:

• Full name
• Year of graduation
• Club information
• GPA
• Test scores
• Gymnast contact information
• Club coach contact information
• Videos of training and competition
• Current photos: head shot and action
• Level 9-Elite best scores

Keep it simple and to the point!


JH Consulting is an advising service for parents and gymnasts to help them through the gymnastics college recruiting process. Jill has 20 years of college coaching experience. She has advised gymnasts to Division I, II, and III teams. You can view her information by going to www.jhicksconsulting.com. She also offers a web course called Roadmap To Recruiting with 10 modules and a workbook designed for the parent and gymnast to learn more about the college gymnastics recruiting process.