The recruiting process starts before the club season starts. As athletes switch clubs and join new ones at the start of the high school season, I usually begin working with a number of new athletes and families. Once they starting copying me on emails, I am able to go watch their highlights, see the schools they are emailing and figure out where they are in the process. Typically I will click on the film link they are sending to college coaches, so I can get an idea of what they are sending to college coaches. I will also give the email a quick run through and take a look at who this athlete is trying to contact.
I think film is really important. You can go back and read through my blog posts, but it is probably one of the topics I have talked about the most over the years (film and emails). Because I think it's so important, it is important that when you reach out to college coaches, you have something to show them. Now, you CAN send an email without new film. In fact, I often encourage it. But you should have something to show them. You should have something specific to present them with.