MIL Sports to Benefit From Perry’s Passion for Video

Cyrus Perry plans to make his presence felt a MIL girls volleyball, not just MIL football. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

By Rodney S. Yap

The feats of student-athletes throughout the Maui Interscholastic League got a boost recently, thanks to Cyrus Perry’s passion for video and high school sports.

In the last two weeks, Perry has posted video game highlights online of five MIL football games and three girls volleyball matches. For the first time, fans of MIL football and volleyball are able to watch a highlighted version on YouTube (Cyrus Perry Video’s Channel), Facebook (Cyrus Perry Videos) or HIsportsfolio.com less than 24 hours after the event.

“I really enjoy watching high school sports and I like filming, so it’s more of a passion for me than anything else,” said the 19-year-old Perry, who graduated from Kihei Charter School in 2011 and played four years of football at Maui High School, under then head coach Roderick Fong.

“He was a good player. He worked hard and was always there. I really enjoyed coaching him. He was one of the few players from Kihei Charter School who helped bring in other student-athletes from that school. His parents (Melva and Wayne) were also good parents, very supportive of the program,” Fong said.

Perry was primarily a defensive back when he started with the Sabers. But by the time he finished, Perry was a starting two-way player, who led the team in receiving his senior season.

“I’m not surprised he’s doing what he’s doing because he’s a very bright kid and he had a real passion for playing, even his (older) brother (Andrew) had that passion, too,” said Fong. “In fact, Cyrus is one of the few kids who I’ve coached that I still keep in contact with and have his number in my phone.”

Of course, Fong’s last conversation with Perry was about video as the former Saber was requesting DVDs from his 2007-2008 seasons.

At the start of the 2012-2013 school year, Perry decided to fill the void for video on demand in MIL sports by committing to attend and document as many events as he can. His interest was tweaked even further when Baldwin’s top college football prospect Jordan Hoiem asked him to do a personal highlight video from his sophomore season.

Cyrus Perry Videos on Facebook. Photo by Rodney S. Yap.

“I’m excited to do highlight videos for student-athletes because there are a lot of parents and relatives who can’t come to the games for whatever reasons. We also have a growing number of student-athletes who need to make a highlight video so coaches from potential colleges can see how well a local recruit did during his or her season.”

First order of business for Perry was the purchase of a solid HD video camera. Since then, Perry has been busy. He edits and posts the MIL football highlights the next day and debuted the work of his new $1,300 device at Lahainaluna’s epic 32-0 shutout of defending champion Baldwin on Sept. 7.

The video of the first-round game has been viewed 851 times on YouTube in the last two weeks. Last Friday’s game between Baldwin and King Kekaulike has already been viewed 346 times on YouTube and another 37 times on HIsportsfolio.com. Viewers are able to watch Baldwin’s Abraham Reinhardt return three kicks for touchdown in one quarter, a feat many long-time MIL fans would not believe happened had they not been able to watch it over and over for days afterwards.

Perry uses natural sound with his videos, allowing viewers to enjoy the total experience, just like they would if they were at the game. Coming in loud and clear in the background are the rambunctious cheerleaders, the roars of the fans, and the beats of the bands — all blending with the voice of PA announcer Spike Tavares.

Last year, HIsportsfolio.com posted highlights of seven MIL football games, varying between a week and a month after the the original contest ended. MauiNow.com produced highlights from three games in 2010 under the former MauiTodayTV channel on YouTube. The HIsportsfolio.com highlights were edited and produced with music, while MauiNow.com used the live audio feed from partner ESPN 550AM radio.

The obstacles many student-athletes face are obtaining quality video of all their respective games and having the time, know-how and resources to effectively use a program like Final Cut Pro or iMovie.

For the first time, football players in the MIL will not have to depend on getting DVDs for regular-season football games from their coaches. The recruiting calendar does not give student-athletes a lot of time to come up with a highlight package once the season is over. In the past, athletes have struggled to get game DVDs in a timely fashion. With Perry, athletes will now have another option.

“I definitely learned a lot in school, working mostly with Sony and Windows, but I’m actually self-taught on Final Cut Pro,” said Perry, who was home-schooled up to high school and played a number of sports, including water polo, swimming, baseball, football and track. “I researched ‘how to make a good video’ and I watch a lot of highlights on NFL.com. I watch a lot of football, too, so I kind of got a feel for what a good highlight video should look like.”

“I’m pursuing it more because its fun to do, and something I love doing,” he added. “I’m trying to get my name out to all the schools and players. I have to be able to work with them. I also like it because I know there are people out there charging a lot of money. I want to be affordable, because a lot of people pay too much. I want to work with the student-athlete and his or her parents. Each video is customized to reflect the talents of that individual.”

For more information, go to:

Cyrus Perry Videos on Facebook

Videos on On YouTube  and HIsportsfolio.com