Veteran Kennebunk High football Coach Joe Rafferty remembers the days of exchanging 16mm game film with opposing coaches. They would meet at a halfway point between their homes.

“First you had to drop it off so it could be processed in Boston, and then you would pick it up and meet with a coach on Sundays to exchange it. Fortunately back then, all our opponents were fairly local.

“We had a game with Oceanside this season. In the old days, I would have had to meet him halfway between Kennebunk and Rockland to exchange game films.”

Technology has changed all that. Through a paid Internet service called Hudl, coaches can upload video of their games and send it to their next opponent with the stroke of a computer key.

“The way it works is that I go home after the game and download the computer chip onto the Hudl program,” said Rafferty.

“It could take 45 minutes to complete, sometimes it’s 10 to 15 minutes. At the same time, the other coach is doing the same thing. I send him our two most recent games. We have a two-way exchange. I get his when he gets mine. Most teams are on it. If they aren’t, they have to provide a DVD of their game.”

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Rafferty will send the link to the videos to his coaches and players soon after the game. The beauty of it, say coaches, is that they can watch the game anywhere – on a mobile device or a home computer. Players have a user name and password. Coaches can tell which players are watching and for how long.

“That’s great for the coaches because you can tell who’s passionate about football,” said Windham Coach Matt Perkins. “But I don’t think the kids like that.”

Coaches extol the different features Hudl provides. It serves as a great teaching tool and has made scouting a lot easier for coaches. That includes cutting down on the aforementioned travel time for exchanges.

That might be the part coaches like best of all. Windham played at Bangor two weeks ago. Perkins didn’t have to worry about meeting Bangor Coach Mark Hackett in Augusta or Waterville to swap game films. It’s all on the Internet.

“I have the ability to pull out first-down plays, running plays, passing plays and key defensive plays,” said Rafferty. “It’s amazing how many different views you can get. It’s quite a tool to have. It’s made me improve my computer skills.”

During the week, teams have offensive days and defensive days, and work on special teams and anything else to prepare for an upcoming opponent. They usually gather on Mondays to look at film. Coaches can tell players what to watch for from an opponent, but if the players can see it numerous times on the computer, it gives them a better understanding.

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“It allows them to see what we’re talking about,” said Portland Coach Jim Hartman. “We can mark up a bunch of different things, isolate plays and send it to individual players. A linebacker can focus on how a certain player runs the sweep or how their linemen block on a particular running play. Our quarterback can see how their defensive backs play. We give players certain assignments and talk about it later.”

Coaches can draw on Hudl like a telestrator to point things out to players.

In this day and age when information is at one’s fingertips, there could be a danger of overloading teenage athletes with too much information. Said Perkins: “We figure out what’s significant and focus on that. It requires less time for watching and learning.”

Hudl is also a great recruiting tool. Players can make their own highlight film and send it to college coaches. It also saves coaches time in the recruiting process.

“We’re not making copies of DVDs and sending them to college coaches. It’s a time saver,” said Marshwood Coach Alex Rotsko.

Rotsko, who enjoyed a long and successful career at Longmeadow High in Massachusetts, started using Hudl when he came to Marshwood in 2012.

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“I think it’s a great teaching tool. Our kids watch film all the time,” he said.

Dom Dimillo, a senior tri-captain and two-way tackle for Portland, said watching upcoming opponents on Hudl helps give him an edge.

“During the season, I probably watch an hour a day,” he said. “I’m looking at who I’m going up against, different formations and seeing if there’s any trick plays. There are no surprises if you watch it.

“We can’t go to see Bangor play, so we watch them on the computer. You can draw on a lot of things you see. There shouldn’t be any surprises.”

Hudl has a program for every sport.

“Our boys’ and girls’ basketball teams have it along with both lacrosse and soccer teams,” said Marshwood Athletic Director Rich Buzzell. “Our boosters pay for it. It’s $1,400 a year for most schools.”

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Prices vary depending on the package a team or school selects. Rafferty said it costs his team $800 a year.

Coaches can refuse to exchange games if they don’t like the quality of the video. That happened to Rotsko this season when the action of another team was shot from field level and not from the press box.

“We refused it because it wasn’t from the angle we needed,” said Rotsko. “We asked if they had something from higher up and they did, so we accepted it.”

While technology has improved the art of scouting, some methods never grow old. Cheverus Coach John Wolfgram uses a tape recorder when he’s scouting an future opponent. He comments on various aspects of the opponents’ game and then transcribes it. His recorder appears to be circa 1980s.

“My kids ask me if I can still find cassette tapes for it,” said Wolfgram.


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