Sports video editing software maker Hudl recently teamed up with Nike to provide a new mobile app called Hudl Combine for high school football players. The app generates scores for the players based off four events: the 40-yard dash, the agility shuttle, a standing vertical jump, and a power ball toss or bench press.
With the app the player can submit their score and receive a verified Nike+ Football Rating to get feedback from Nike. The app aims for athletes to showcase their ratings on the Nike national leaderboards. Top scorers in the leaderboard receive an invitation to The Opening, which features 160 of the country’s best high school football players. The partnership aims to increase the competitiveness for the notable event where athletes have the opportunity to learn from and compete against the best in the game via training sessions.
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“Helping athletes improve and showcase their skills is at the core of what we do,” David Graff, Hudl CEO, said in a news release. “We’re excited to partner with Nike in this shared mission…”
Hudl Combine, which is only available on iPhone for now, enables users to navigate between the Leaderboard, Improve, Record, The Opening and My Ratings tabs. Players can choose which events they want to record and let a friend record for them. If they are recording the vertical jump then start and finish points of the jump can be marked on the app.
Users can then choose to post their score to the leaderboard as well as to their Hudl profile where it can be seen by other athletes, coaches, and recruiters. Players can also wait to post their score until they reach their best score. The app creates a high-spirited competitiveness to training among high school football players and is poised to be a great way for Nike to get strong exposure to the perpetually sought after teenage demographic.
In order to get a Nike Football Rating users must complete these four events in total and then Hudl representatives will verify each performance and give it a Nike Football Rating. The first three are mandatory – vertical jump, 40-yard dash, and agility shuttle. For the fourth event they have the option to select the power ball toss or the bench press. After completing the four events, they then use the calculator to see how they can improve their score with the Nike+ feedback on your Nike+ account. Hudl Combine will also feature training videos from Nike athletes.
“The Nike Football Rating tells us some really concrete facts about the basic athleticism, speed and explosion that an athlete brings,” Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in a promotional video on Nike’s website. “It’s a great tool. It’s one that we’ve used through high school, through college and in the NFL as well, so this is a really cool thing and it’s something we can really count on.”
Previously, the Nike event selected 166 players from a pool of roughly 17,000 players competing at regional Opening competitions since 2007. With the app, more players will have the chance to be noticed by Nike.
Hudl’s current audience is an estimated one million student-athletes who upload highlight videos.