www.TheExaminerNews.com May 12 - May 18, 2009 11

By Andrew VitelliFor high school athletes, getting recruited

to play at the next level takes more than performing on the field.

Since college coaches and recruiters can’t attend every high school game, athletes must find the best way to present themselves to their prospective school. That’s where Mike Bucci and Dom Zecca come in.

Zecca has run AVP Sports, a company that films high school athletes and sporting events, for more than a year. Recently, Zecca teamed with Bucci to start GetUrecruited, which specializes in putting together a package for high school athletes to present to college coaches and recruiters.

“You have 30 seconds in a recruitment video to get a coach to notice you,” Zecca said. “If you don’t sell yourself in 30 seconds, that recruiter or that coach is going to go onto the next video.”

When Bucci originally came up with the idea for GetUrecruited, he planned on taking tape from the parents and editing it to put it into a package to be presented to college coaches. However, he knew that many kids wouldn’t already have tape and parents may not have the equipment or expertise to adequately film them. A grainy or poorly shot tape could interfere with a coach’s ability to judge an athlete and could cost that athlete a shot at a scholarship.

So Bucci and Zecca, neighbors and close friends, joined hands to offer student-athletes the complete package.

“He’s not just a videographer, he knows everything about sports,” Bucci said of Zecca. “When Dom said he’d be able to partner with me and do videography too, then I knew there was no kid we couldn’t help.”

When Zecca started AVP Sports, he made sure that all the videographers came from sports backgrounds. That way, they have a deeper understanding of the sport they are filming.

Between them, Bucci and Zecca have enough sports experience and expertise to make Bo Jackson look like a novice. Zecca played soccer for 15 years, played football in high school, and has played hockey for the past 16 years. He is also a USA Hockey official.

Bucci played soccer and baseball as a kid, then played football and lacrosse and ran cross country for Mahopac High School. After playing as a walk-on for the SUNY Albany lacrosse team, he was offered a scholarship to play lacrosse at Pace University at jumped at the opportunity.

“I never thought in a million years I’d get some money to play lacrosse,” Bucci said.

The process taught Bucci a bit about what coaches look for when recruiting an athlete. When working with a client, he starts by seeing whether they are committed to the process and ready to play at the next level.

Once that is determined, Bucci and Zecca get to work finding the best way to market the individual athlete. This varies from case to case. They often use game film as well as film of the athlete on the practice field so that he or she can showcase a particular set of skills. They put together highlight tapes, video resumes, and Brag-Mags which include newspaper clippings, stats and resumes. TC Graphics, a graphics design studio in Mahopac, also helps put the packages together.

“One hundred percent of coaches I’ve spoken to in college have said the same thing, which is that parents really don’t know what they want,” said Bucci. “Through our research, we’re figured out a lot of simple strategies that get interest right away.”

One of the most important strategies is having high-quality video. Zecca, who majored in film editing at William Paterson University, started Alesca Video

Productions in 2005. AVP films any event, from weddings to birthday parties to corporate events.

“I’m one that cries too when the son dances with his mom and the daughter dances with her dad, so it’s a personal feeling to me and I’ve always believed in that,” he said. “There’s not one bride or groom that I’ve helped out there, or any event, that I haven’t felt a deep personal connection with.”

Being an expert videographer and sports junkie, Zecca naturally combined his two areas of expertise when he started AVP Sports. Instead of a parent having to film a game, Zecca allows the parents to enjoy watching their kid play while leaving the filming up to the experts.

Matt Petrone, the center fielder for the Mahopac High School baseball team, used AVP Sports and was able to get a scholarship to play for the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Zecca and Bucci enjoy the opportunity to help kids fulfill their dream, and enjoy doing it in their own backyard even more. They live in Mahopac and are invested in the community, as both are members of The Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce and Bucci runs Bucci Brothers

Deli on Route 6 with his family.“We’re here for the community. We’re not

just here to work with an athlete. We’re here to see their success,” Zecca said. “We share a very large desire for the town to succeed in all aspects.”

Bucci can be reached at mbucci@geturecruited.com or through the website, www.GetUrecruited.com. Zecca can be reach at Domenic@alescavideo.com or through the website, www.alescavideo.com.

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Dom Zecca (left) and Mike bucci.ANDreW Vitelli PHoto