{"id":13195,"date":"2022-10-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=13195"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:11:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:11:26","slug":"does-your-data-provide-psychological-and-socio-economic-insights","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/does-your-data-provide-psychological-and-socio-economic-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"Does your Data Provide Psychological and Socio-Economic Insights?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 21 Oct 2022 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Does your Data Provide Psychological and Socio-Economic Insights?<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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The Irish startup PlayerStatData says that their app helps to provide a holistic picture of young player development in soccer.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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A Data & Innovation article brought to you by<\/h6>\n
\"sport<\/h6>\n
By Joe Lemire<\/h6>\n
Colin Brett is a soccer analyst who spent time working for tracking company ChyronHego and betting analysis provider Football Radar. He noticed a gap in data coverage for players in the League of Ireland\u2014it was \u201cinaccurate at best,\u201d he recalls\u2014so he started building a platform to fill that void.<\/h6>\n

During the pandemic pause on sports, however, Brett recognized an even greater deficiency in the player development infrastructure, so he pivoted his startup,\u00a0PlayerStatData<\/a>, to address the Under-13 through Under-19 population. The target user is currently academy directors and player development coordinators, but Brett says further iterations will likely suit coaches and the athletes themselves.<\/p>\n

The PlayerStatData app, which launched in the US and Canada earlier this month, seeks to provide objective performance data culled from video analysis, physical test results, a centralized library of coaching assessments and, crucially, a monitoring system for psychological and socio-economic insights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see be a solution for all and to be an all-encompassing solution as well, which means that we want to be accessible, affordable and available to all clubs at all youth levels across the US and Canada,\u201d says Brett, the CEO and co-founder of the Waterford, Ireland-based company. \u201cAnd we want to give them the full picture of a player\u2019s development.”<\/p>\n

Context is critical. Family backgrounds and finances all play a role in player progression, especially in the North American pay-to-play model with costly club and travel teams representing an important pathway. Teenagers\u2019 mental health and perspectives need to be considered, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaches have become a lot more open to psychological output because, especially with the age that we’re looking, 13 to 19, there’s a lot going on physically and mentally with them at that age,\u201d Brett says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stuff to understand with them too. So that’s where we want to get the best advice, because it’s important to get that right.\u201d<\/p>\n

For that, Brett has turned to\u00a0Laura Finnegan<\/a>, a lecturer in sport management at South East Technological University in Waterford, as an advisor. Her master\u2019s thesis was in sports psychology, and her Ph.D. dissertation studied the organizational structure of talent development in Irish soccer. Finnegan has done research work on behalf of Uefa and US Soccer as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s valuable everywhere to be able to see the player in the round,\u201d she says. That 360-degree view, which PlayerStatData will incorporate piecemeal in future updates, is a novel approach to a market that does have several\u00a0digital scouting<\/a>\u00a0video platforms<\/a>,\u00a0GPS wearables<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0new sensors<\/a> already. \u201cI really think that’s what’s going to set them apart,\u201d Finnegan adds.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Gladwell detailed in his book Outliers<\/em> that a disproportionate number of NHL players were born in the early months\u2014January, February and March\u2014because the Canadian youth program cutoffs were at the start of the year, thus favoring the slightly older kids. Finnegan has noted similar patterns<\/a>\u00a0in academies in the United Kingdom and thus advocates for delayed selection of players because many physical skills don\u2019t manifest until after puberty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s all stacked with boys that are our early maturers, and in the early years, all born earlier towards the cutoff as well,\u201d she says of the academies. \u201cThat was one example of something that we could layer in so that you’re not just necessarily comparing Boy A with Boy B, but actually, you’re comparing boys with someone of the same maturity status as him. You’re trying to be fairer for those kids. For me, it’s just adding an extra lens for coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

PlayerStatData has done some early work with the academy of Waterford FC, which competes in the League of Ireland\u2019s First Division, and has attracted some early clients overseas such as Ottawa University Arizona, a nationally ranked NAIA program. PlayerStatData also sponsored a local Under-14 tournament where it did analysis for the participating teams, which included a team from the Blackburn Rovers, whose first team is one rung below the Premier League. Brett envisions a platform that\u2019s truly customizable so that users can meet their needs no matter the staffing and resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat’s useful is we did some bespoke design,\u201d says Waterford FC academy director Mike Geoghegan. “So Colin sits down and asked me, what information am I looking for? What’s the sort of things that I want to track as a head coach? Because it may not be the same for every head of academy.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, the PlayerStatData staff manually tags video and collects data, but computer vision algorithms developed in conjunction with professors at the local university are being developed. Brett wants that process automated within 18 months so that coaches only need to upload video into the app. \u201cWe want to get into a situation where it’s drag, drop, collect, and pick up the reports,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The Waterford academy, for instance, is staffed by part-time coaches who don\u2019t always have the time to \u201cextract and properly manage the data and draw insights from that data,\u201d Geoghegan adds. \u201cSo I’m saying, I’ve got lots of recordings, lots of football, lots of coaches, but I’m not really getting this information in any way because it’s no one’s job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brett sees the US and Canadian soccer systems as needing a tool like his to eliminate subjective coaching bias; the volume of players and vastness of geography make it hard for objective monitoring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a bit of a wild west when it comes to pay-to-play and the sheer size of the market,\u201d he says, adding: \u201cThere\u2019s an openness to data, there’s an openness to finding that edge, it’s an openness to use a couple of innovations to get ahead, be that as a club or be as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was brought to you by SportTechie<\/strong>, a Leaders Group<\/strong> company. As a Leaders Performance Institute<\/strong> member, you are able to enjoy exclusive access to SportTechie<\/strong> content in the field of athletic performance.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

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