Guest article by: Sunny Packer. The world of sports has mixed with sports.
Whether it’s a scout, coach or team manager. In most cases, data is no longer recorded with pen and paper. Player tracking systems for talent development, camera systems along the pitch, as well as the average coach’s spreadsheets are becoming increasingly advanced.
Choices in youth and amateur sports are increasingly being made based on data. The pre-season selection policy is determined in part by performance tests. But the lineup and playing time of training teams is also determined on the basis of training attendance, which is strictly monitored. The modern coach attempts to entice players to get the most out of the game using gameplay elements borrowed from the digital world.
Many clubs in the Netherlands will agree that purchased cameras are only used intermittently. Only for the first team – men. And all that data in complex systems is difficult to use in practice.
Many clubs now have sports technology, but do not have the knowledge and time to actually use it. Some examples:
– Well, the camera. There is no (time) for good analysis.
– Performance tests. Lack of follow-up in the training program.
– Okay, sensors. There are no meaningful data insights.
AI and smartphone technology provide a solution for those teams who cannot afford a professional data and video analyst, but want to handle the data more professionally.
Portable sports cameras like VEO and Trace already have AI functions that can automatically generate statistics from match recordings. Sensors such as those found in Footbar or Playermaker provide online environments with insights that are understandable to the coach and player. However, the team’s prices are still very high. A subscription camera easily costs 1500-2000 euros. The entire sensor team costs more than 1000 euros.
At Mingle Sport, we are working on a series of innovations that allow you to integrate with sensors, but also with Apple and Android watches for training. We are also working on tests that you can take during training using a single smartphone. This allows you to measure your endurance or running speed. We want to make sports technology more accessible and affordable for every team.
Sunny Packer is a Sports Scientist at Mingle Sport. She is also a video analyst for FC Twente women’s team.
