Recording youth soccer on 9' tripod

I coach youth soccer and want an easy way to record our entire games. I don't have parents willing to help shoot footage, and I'm not able to focus on shooting video during games while I'm coaching. Thus far I have used GoPro type action cams (Campark) on a 9' tripod.

I have usually placed the tripod at one corner of the field where I can usually have sufficient detail on the half of the field where the camera is, ubut can hardly make out any detail beyond the midfield line. More recently I used 2 action cams on a single tripod near the midfield line, with each capturing half the field with a little overlap near the midfield line to get everything. This requires extra work to review the video footage after the game.

I am thinking an Insta360 One X (or X2) on a tall tripod (8' lightstand tripod) at the midfield line capturing 4K 50fps would simplify things because:

  1. It would capture both halves of the field in equal proximity.
  2. It should capture the entire game in a single field of view (only 1 camera)
  3. I don't have to worry about adjusting the camera angle before the game to make sure I have the correct part of the field in the camera's view.
  4. Camera 8' high should not be blocked by anyone walking in front of the camera, and probably provide a better angle for viewing the players on the field (being above eye-level, versus the chest-level 4' tripod I've been using)
  5. After the game I can use the Insta360 Studio software to frame & export the game as a standard 16:9 video that:
    1. Has minimal to no fisheye
    2. Pans left & right somewhat with the game (so it can be zoomed in a bit to make it easier to see what happened in the game).
  6. There is also the potential for cool highlight reels due to the ability to zoom in, change the angle, etc. to create nice views of good plays, etc.)

I am assuming:

  1. The video quality will be at least as good as the actioncams I've been using (hopefully better)
  2. The Insta360 Studio can in fact create a traditional "flat" rectangular 16:9 frame that doesn't have any of the fancy effects it is famous for.
  3. The software can be given points to move the camera view back & forth easily over the course of the video.

Concerns:

  1. The camera is not waterproof, so we could have problems if it rains. (are there any cases that would offer some protection [even if covering up the microphones]?)
  2. I don't know how long it will take to edit the video on the PC after games, but hope it won't take hours.
  3. Video quality
  4. Battery life (but I'm thinking I could use an external USB battery bank mounted under the camera to provide all the extra juice needed)

I have not seen anyone try to do this, and don't know why not.

Someone suggested it here:

Please help me with the correct settings for filming 2 soccer/football games at once on a tripod. : GH5 (reddit.com)

And this is the only video I've found where anyone filmed youth sports with it at all (though this is very different as the dad is moving up & down the sidelines holding the camera):

(1) Next Level Youth Flag Football at De La Salle Concord - Insta360 One X - YouTube

I don't have an unlimited budget, but I would strongly consider picking up one of these cameras if it would do all of the above in a decent & reliable way & not take too much time to export the videos after-the-fact.

I realize the correct camera for filming youth sports would be a camcorder or DSLR with a large lense & sensor, and a human behind it panning with the game. But I don't have that at my disposal, so if this worked fairly well, it may be my easy setup cameraman-less solution.

I would really appreciate feedback from people experienced with these cameras. And I would really appreciate footage of action 100-200 feet from a non-moving camera, so I can see some realistic example of the detail it can capture.

Thanks all for your time!

Sincerely,

-

Doug