Changing the game at High Schools: “If you're not using Veo, you're missing out”

In high schools around the world, sports programs are an integral part of students' experiences and development. From soccer to basketball, from volleyball to American football, there is a wide range of sports for students to participate in. But how can schools effectively analyze and improve their sports programs across these different sports?

The answer is the same at Framingham High School and Milton High School, both located in Boston: Thanks to the schools' Veo cameras and Veo platform, they have enhanced their sports programs. This is made possible by Veo's portable solution, which makes it easy for the schools' coaching staff to carry around.

“The ability of our team managers to set it up and let it do its thing is really important for us. It really helps, and you can easily bring it out to fields where you need it to be,” the Framingham High School athletic director, Paul Spears, expresses before he continues. “There are opportunities to get stationary cameras that just sit in one place. But if you need to move the camera and have it go to multiple places, you really need something like Veo.”

As an experienced athletic director of seven years, Spears sees his responsibility as ensuring that the teams and coaching staff have the necessary resources to achieve success. He highlights that video analysis is a crucial part of this equation. Reflecting on his past experiences as a coach, he remembers having to make do with a VHS recorder and a 25-foot-long remote control. Today, technology has advanced significantly, allowing for quick and comprehensive game analysis, which Spears considers a tremendous advantage across all sports.

“So far, our experience has been that people here love the Veo camera, and they love the concept of it. You can video lacrosse, football, field hockey, soccer, and the list goes on. And we've done it from multiple different facilities in different fields because it’s portable. All those points are really important.” Spears says before he continues.

“In terms of when you're looking at the game, if you're not using Veo, you're missing out.”

Using Veo for multiple sports
At Framingham High School, the utilization of Veo cameras spans across a multitude of sports. With not less than 27 varsity sports, including traditional favorites like football, soccer, and baseball, as well as niche activities such as skiing and swimming, there's truly something for everyone. With a student body of nearly 2600 students, the school prides itself on its inclusivity and vibrant sports culture.

With so many student-athletes across various sports, Spears has experienced a high demand for Veo cameras. As the athletic director overseeing all sports, it's his responsibility to ensure that all sports have equal opportunities. And one of these is access to Veo's technology.

“When you have one camera, and you have field hockey, two soccer teams, and a football team in the fall, and they're all playing at different locations, you need to make sure that everyone's taken care of. So we're going to make sure that we have multiple cameras so everybody can Veo their games,” he says.

“We have football and field hockey play on different days, but with soccer, one team is away, and one team is home. We want to make sure everybody has a camera they can use and call their own so that they can capture all their games.”

Despite the high demand for the cameras, the integration of Veo and the Veo platform has been nothing but a positive experience for Spears and his colleagues.

“So we've had, I've had zero complaints about any of those things,” Spears expresses.

Bringing the program to a new level with Veo
At another of Massachusetts’ high schools, Milton High School, Kevin Gorham serves as the Varsity Girls' Soccer Coach. Originally hailing from Ireland, Gorham has called Milton home for the past 13 years. With experience working with the Boston Bolts in recent years, he now leads the soccer program at Milton High School. Having previously utilized Veo cameras at previous jobs, Gorham wasted no time in introducing Veo to his new role as one of his first initiatives.

“I wanted to bring our program to a different level essentially. And I felt that to take it to that level and build a program that was conducive to player development, we needed to do more. I felt we needed to add something, and the introduction of technology, game analysis, video recording, and everything that goes with it was really important for us and for our success,” Gorham says and looks at the Veo camera.

“The secret to your success is who you surround yourself with. And I surrounded myself with a strong coaching staff to begin. We went ahead and raised some money for what we needed for our program. One of those things was obviously our Veo,” he says.

“The Veo camera is critical”
Both Spears and Gorham emphasize the importance of post-match analysis, which is heavily focused on at both schools. Before assuming his role as athletic director, Spears was an ice hockey coach, giving him considerable experience in player development. According to Spears, one way to achieve this is through video, which he considers the best learning tool to show players their successes and mistakes.

“A lot of times in the heat of battle, when you're trying to correct a mistake, it's really hard for the athlete to process what they may have done wrong or collectively what the team might be doing wrong. It's really hard to process that and correct it at the moment. But when you can go back and show them specifically what you need them to do, want them to do, or even what the opponent is doing. Those things are all critical pieces to the success of your players.”

“As far as I'm concerned, when your coaches want a video practice every day, the Veo camera is critical because that's the piece of equipment that they need every day.”

The same mindset applies at Milton High School with Gorham. There's a significant emphasis on players being active on the Veo platform, where they can easily access their matches, find highlights, and identify areas for improvement.

“It's all about building blocks. We have put a lot of emphasis on the development of the whole player. We have 60 girls in our program. Every girl has access to Veo, every girl has a Veo account, and every girl can go in, break out plays, look at themselves, and review games and training sessions.”

Thanks to these analysis sessions, Gorham has witnessed several of his teams significantly improve on the field. Since the addition of Veo cameras, the school has made it to the playoffs for the first time in five years and has defeated rivals, a feat not achieved in over 20 years. However, Gorham quickly makes it clear that fantastic results like these are not the most important aspect. Instead, he emphasizes the development of the student-athletes, which has been enhanced following the addition of Veo cameras.

“I go back to the fact that it's not about wins and losses. It's about developments like our freshman team, which is our third team. They lost only one game all season long. They had access to Veo the same way our varsity girls did.”

A different outlook on the screen
As the conversation shifts to how Framingham High School has evolved over the years, Spears once again references the VHS example. Before the school acquired Veo cameras, they relied on handheld video cameras, resulting in hours of recordings that were cumbersome for the coaching staff to sift through and share clips with players. With the introduction of Veo cameras, and thanks to features like Instant Playback, where you can immediately see what happened on the field, Spears has witnessed a professionalization of the analysis sessions at Framingham High School. Analysis sessions can now be conducted on the go with just a few clicks.

“I could go over to you now with an iPad with the uploaded video. You bring that iPad to the arena, the field, or wherever you are, and you have access to those videos to sit with a student and say, ‘Hey, this is what I saw on that play. This is where I need you to be and how I need you to react,’” he says before going into details about the advancements of video analysis.

“There are so many advancements in terms of you can be way more efficient now with video than you could be in the past. If you're not looking at that and finding ways to review it, you're kind of yelling into a cave. I know a lot of coaches might think that by talking to players, they're automatically improving their level of play. But kids these days want to learn visually. They want to see themselves.”

‍

At Milton High School, coach Gorham can relate to the visual aspect of learning.

“It's a whole different outlook on a screen than on the field. You can do everything on the field. You find when you talk to student-athletes, they'll give you the yes, the nod, and then you follow it up with, ‘Are you sure you understand?’ Yes, I understand. Then, you get into a classroom setting, look at a screen, break it down, and put an arrow going from one point to the other, and everybody stands back and looks at it and says, ‘Oh, now I get it. Now I see what you mean.’”

In reflecting on the impact of Veo at Framingham High School, Spears highlights the tangible benefits experienced by their football team. He shares a memorable moment captured by Veo during the traditional Thanksgiving Day football game.

"Our football players would be able to attest to the idea that there was some significant impact on their ability to win games based on our Veo. We had a tremendous last-minute win, and we've got a really good video of that, where someone's diving for the pylon with 30 seconds left to win the game. And to have that on camera was pretty special."

Beyond its practical benefits, Spears recognizes Veo's broader implications.

"You can use it as a recruiting tool and as a tool of efficacy for the kids to feel good about."

He underscores the importance of empowering students through technology, enabling them to review their performances and derive confidence from their achievements.

Veo transcends its role as a mere recording device; it becomes an integral component of the school's athletic program, enhancing performance, preserving memories, and fostering a sense of pride among students.

"Even if you just have a camera to capture moments that kids can later go back and watch on their own, it’s worth it," Spears concludes.

‍

Learn more about Veo Cam 3 here, or read more about how you can record multiple sports at yourhigh school here.