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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Online film service a boon to coaches

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Among the myriad duties of a high school football coach, one of the most time-consuming can be "film work."

Hours can be spent every week converting game tapes to VHS, making copies for assistants, upcoming opponents and college recruiters and then shipping them out in the mail.

But former NFL assistant Ron Lynn presented a new internet service to O'ahu Interscholastic Association coaches Monday night that can reduce those hours to under five minutes. It's called "AthletiShare," and is available to all high school coaches free of charge.

It works like this: After the game, a coach or his assistant can plug his digital video camera into a computer, log on to the AthletiShare Web site, input the video, then type in any stats or highlights he wants to include.

The video then can be watched by any college coaching staff that subscribes to the service for a fee, as well as the high school coach's staff or opposing head coaches who have approved password access.

Lynn, who represents AthletiShare's parent company, DA Publish, said the whole process can be done in 4 1/2 minutes.

"I have two sons playing high school football, so I know and appreciate how much time you guys put into coaching," said Lynn, who spent 20 years as an NFL assistant, most recently with the San Francisco 49ers. "This will save you time and money."

Lynn said the Ohio football coaches association has agreed to participate and several major colleges — including California, Stanford and the University of Hawai'i — either are or have agreed to be subscribers. But he said smaller colleges with limited recruiting budgets especially will benefit from the technology, as will high school athletes who now will have more opportunities to be seen.

Not to mention the high school coaches, who would be able to spend more time with their players or families instead of in the film room or at the post office.

"I signed up; it sounds like it would be helpful," Mililani coach James Millwood said. "It can take six hours to make one highlight tape, so this can be a huge benefit."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.