Preseason practices are starting across Connecticut this month, and for most programs that means one thing on the calendar gets overlooked every year: booking coverage before the season, not during it. If your team, school, or league wants a media day shoot, a season hype video, or a videographer locked in for opening night, August is when that decision needs to happen — not the week before kickoff.
Here’s what’s actually worth booking now, and why waiting costs you options.
Media Day is your best shot at a full-team library
Most teams only get one moment all year when the entire roster is in one place, in uniform, before the grind of the season scatters everyone’s schedule — media day. That’s the day to capture individual portraits, full-team shots, and short “meet the team” clips in one efficient session, rather than trying to stitch together photos from a dozen different game days later. Once the season starts, getting every player in front of a camera at once gets a lot harder.
A season hype video does more than look good on Instagram
A short, well-cut season-opener video — training clips, crowd energy from last year, a countdown to week one — is one of the highest-engagement pieces of content a program can put out. Boosters share it, parents share it, and it sets the tone before a single snap is played. It’s also genuinely useful for programs building out sponsorship decks or booster fundraising materials, since it’s the kind of asset that’s hard to produce well without a professional camera and a real edit.
Booking early protects your opening weekend
Opening weekend in Connecticut isn’t just your game — it’s every program’s game, all competing for the same small pool of videographers. Teams that lock in coverage in August get their pick of dates and crew availability. Teams that wait until two weeks out are often choosing from whoever’s left, if anyone is.
This isn’t just about game day highlight reels
If your focus is specifically on recruiting and college-bound athletes, we covered that ground a few weeks ago — why mid-July was the deadline for summer highlight reels still applies as fall tryouts wrap up. But preseason coverage is a different asset entirely — it’s about building the program’s presence for the season ahead, not just one player’s file for a coach.
What we bring to a preseason shoot
Whether it’s Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, or a Southington program, our approach to preseason coverage is the same one we use for in-season game coverage — multiple camera angles, clean audio, and a fast turnaround so the content is actually usable before the season starts, not after it’s half over. We also bring our own portable connectivity kit so field location and cell coverage are never the reason a shoot gets delayed.
The bottom line
If your program hasn’t locked in a media day or season-opener shoot yet, August is the window — before practice schedules fill every open evening and weekend between now and Labor Day.
Contact JLS Video Solutions today to get your team’s preseason coverage on the calendar before the season does.