How did HIGHLITEREEL.com come to be?

HIGHLITEREEL.com was founded in July of 2008, however the idea was originally conceived about six years prior. I was a Division 1 college baseball prospect who was targeting mostly Florida schools. Unfortunately, I had the disadvantage of being from a small Division 2 High school in Massachusetts. And because of this, I was overlooked by many of the schools I was targeting. In August 2002, with goals of earning a scholarship by walking on, I ended up at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, a highly competitive and elite Division 1 baseball school. After speaking with FAU's coaching staff I quickly realized this was going to be a lot different than I had pictured. They explained that since I was from a small D2 school in Massachusetts, and without a sufficient highlight tape, it would be hard for them to offer me a scholarship without a way to measure me against the "Southern talent". I was quite insulted because in my head I knew I was good enough to play at FAU. However I understood where they were coming from since they would be taking me, a relatively small freshman hopeful, at his word, and more importantly no highlight video.

A torn ACL and six years later, my playing career was growing more and more distant in the rearview mirror. My life as a "has been, never will be" athlete was gaining steam through my glory on the softball field. Although you may be laughing at this, it is this glory that made me realize how ineffectively I was marketed during the recruiting process. In 2004 after belting a 300 ft home run one of my teammates, who played baseball at Florida State, asked me, "Where did you play College baseball?" I told him that I hadn't played in college, partially because of injury, but really because I didn't think I had got a fair shot. He shook his head and said "Wow, what a waste!" For four years this comment has stuck with me for many reasons, besides the obvious one of regret. I realize that if I had guidance, and more importantly resources throughout the entire recruiting process perhaps my path would have been different.

Luckily I had a chance to redeem myself.

In June 2008 I was attending Duke University's Football Recruitment Camp as a chaperone to my cousin, Andrew. He was every football coach's dream, 17 years old, standing at 6'1" and a solid 215 lbs. Not only did Andrew have strength and size, but speed as well, running the 40-yard dash in 4.67 seconds. Seeing the shocked reactions of the coaches (who were all SEC coaches the year prior) to Andrew's size and speed made me realize that being from the Northeast offers a distinct disadvantage to the athlete who aspires to play at a big name, Division 1 College. In fact, the exact words of the coaches who clocked his 40-time were, "Andrew where you from boy?" as he jogged by Andrew replied, "Boston, coach." This was immediately followed by a conversation between the coaches at how unbelievable it was to have a kid this "big and fast" from the Northeast. It was at this point that I had my so-called "great moment of clarity".

Following the camp I developed the concept further with Andrew, as well as my brother Thomas, who was also going through the college recruitment process as a hockey player. Then in July 2008, with the help of Seth Sznapstajler (VP/CFO) and Shiloh Shaner (CTO), Highlitereel.com was created.

Our target audience is broken down into three segments and purposes:

1. Players and coaches- a priceless recruiting resource
2. Fans- a way to view and vote on the best and worst individual plays and highlight videos
3. Parents- a tool to make a "video scrapbook" of their child's playing career

We aim to give the world a medium to view, rate and comment on athletes of all ages and sports. Our vision is to provide a platform for athletes, coaches, fans and parents to view, upload and edit sports highlight videos. All these elements will allow us to successfully accomplish our goal, which is to make Highlitereel.com "The Future of Sports Media on the Internet for athletes of all shapes, sizes and skill levels."

-Christopher K. Smith
President/CEO of HIGHLITEREEL.com