So I thought I would write about something a bit more local
to myself. Newry based company STATSports are set to create close to 240 jobs
for the local economy. STATSports are a provider of wearable player tracking
devices and analysis software. STATSports
was founded in 2008 by Alan Clarke and Sean O’Connor, building on several years
of successful business activities in sports science. The firm works closely
with sports teams to provide in-depth analysis and feedback upon player
performances. In March the company recently signed a “ground-breaking” deal with
the US Soccer Federation, potentially worth more than £1bn.
You only need to visit their website to see the impressive
range of teams they work with. From Rugby to Basketball to Football. Teams such
as Barcelona, Manchester United, the Portugal National Team and the England
National Team. It is a really impressive feat for the Newry based company and
how often do you hear Newry and Manchester United in the same sentence? The
company currently has offices in Belfast, London, Chicago and Florida.
Its technology is worn in vests, each device uses GPS
technology to provide real-time player data to help improve performance levels.
The deal between the US Federation has been described by performance director,
James Bunce: "This has the potential to collect data on a scale that has
not been achieved before in any sport or organisation." Which signifies a
really exciting time for the company.
The software is developed by STATSports
however the devices are contracted out for manufacture.
Features from their app such as max speed, fatigue index, distance
and heart rate and provide crucial feedback for coaches and teams. As well as
this with the accumulative data STATSports can start to gather they will be
able to introduce Machine Learning technology to provide useful insights and
predictive analysis to improve their current offerings. It is interesting to
see that the firm are currently looking for University graduates with a Masters
in the area of Data Analytics, Data Science, Data Mining, Machine Learning, or
a closely related discipline. So the firm are clearly heading in that direction.
To conclude it is really interesting to see a Northern
Ireland based company providing such innovative technology which is pioneering
the sports science industry. Invest NI are now backing the company with close
to a £4 million investment to help with job creation, R&D and staff
training. It will be really interesting how this company will grow, develop and
use Northern Ireland as their headquarters. I will leave a few links to the
company’s social profiles so you can check some of the work they do out for
yourself.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/statsports/
Website: https://statsports.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/statsports/
Website: https://statsports.com/
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