Anthony Remedios is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Paradise Valley High School for AZPreps365.com.

Film study is a critical part of a football program at any level, from high school to college to the NFL. It gives teams a chance to look back at what they did during a game and learn how to correct their mistakes for next time.

For some teams, they have to wait until the next day to watch film. But for Paradise Valley, they receive instant replay on the sidelines through SportScope.

“It’s a real beneficial film to have so you can make adjustments on the fly, in between drives instead of having to wait until after the game,” said Paradise Valley head coach Greg Davis. “For me as a head coach, it’s a good tool for our [players] hustling, doing what they need to do.”

Film coordinator Gabe Morrison is in charge of monitoring and operating all the film and video equipment during the game, which is equipped with two different camera angles: the standard sideline camera from the top of the press box and an end zone camera.

“You can control the end zone cam either from the iPad like a video game or you can set it on its ‘auto’ feature where it will basically stay on the linemen for the game and stay on the linemen as they move down the field,” Morrison said.

The cameras are also synced with one of five iPads on the sidelines that is connected via HDMI cables to a 55-inch smart TV, for coaches to review the plays with their athletes. One iPad is with a coach in the press box and the other three are available for various coaches to use with their position groups.

“As soon as I turn the cameras off, they can view those plays within about five seconds from both angles,” Morrison added.

Players gather around the 55-inch TV to review film with their coach. (Anthony Remedios / AZPreps365.com)

 

The film is simultaneously uploaded to QwikCuts, an online platform to store and view video and exchange it with other schools.

The Trojans have had some form of an instant replay system for the entirety of Coach Davis’s eight-year tenure at Paradise Valley but upgraded to SportScope prior to the 2020 season due to better reliability.

“The first few years [we had instant replay] it was very spotty,” Davis said. “It worked really well at home, but when cell phone towers became more prevalent, it messed with the frequency of the instant replay. There were a few years when I felt like we wasted our money because it seemed like every time we needed to use it, it froze or didn’t pick it up or wasn’t working.”

Now, the instant replay operates on an individual Wi-Fi network, a critical component to its effectiveness.

Davis said the initial cost of all the equipment was about $7,000 and was funded through the booster club’s fundraising, which also includes insurance and maintenance.  

Additionally, SportScope’s system has a wide physical range, allowing it to be used in larger stadiums.

Although primarily used by football, the equipment is available to other sports programs within the Paradise Valley athletic department. Additionally, the school has displayed and sold advertisements on the big TV at other sporting events, such as basketball games.

The Trojans will have their bye on Nov. 5 before closing out the season at Shadow Mountain on Nov. 12.