Metrica Sports: Revamping data extrapolation and analysis

Avatar
Metrica Sports - PLAY
Image via Metrica Sports

In 2023, every inch counts. Whether it be on the field, the gym, or the training pitch. Coaches and players alike are desperate to obtain as much information as they can on their game, in a way in which they can digest and utilise to better their performance.

Metrica Sports is revolutionising the data analysis space, with applications across a variety of sports, including American football, basketball, rugby, and football. Using the Metrica Cloud Engine, Metrica Sports PLAY unleashes the potential from automated tracking data, with data packs suited to all levels of the game, enriching presentation, and video sessions. Metrica Sports offers a free version of the software, to allow smaller teams to test this out to determine the best possible options for the success of the club.

Metrica Sports has partnered with more than 300 professional teams across 80 countries worldwide.

PLAY goes one step further than the competitors. It visualises data in more than just graphs and charts. PLAY shows live 2D fields with moving markers to outline structure in play, in reference to where the ball and opposition is. This can be beneficial to coaches to determine if there is a hole that can be exploited more so by the opposition, such as being too compact in transition allowing the opposition to nullify counter attacks.

PLAY offers 3 methods of tracking players in game, each of which have their own benefits. Manual tracking takes the longest and allows coaches to manually select what in any given frame they want to analyse. However, what they select only covers a single frame, and must go through and select what they want across different frames.

Automatic tracking takes almost 1/3 of the time, with the ability to manually opt in or out of selected targets on the field to track. Metrica uses the example of tracking a defensive line as the ball is shifted onto the sideline, as one defender is engaged, showcasing the distance between the other defenders, and their direction changes to suit.

Automated tracking is similar to automatic but is simply effortless. Everything is tracked already, the ball and all players are tracked, and you can choose what to extrapolate from the data it collects, as well as how long into a recording the software needs to extrapolate the data from.

But with so much data and analysis, will some things may be overlooked? No chance. PLAY allows for playlists of clips from a match can be generated with tags to filter out of highlights and clips exactly what a coach or analyst wants to extrapolate. For instance, PLAY can allow generate tags for all clips that include building out from the back, by determining when there is possession in the defensive third. Along with attacking clips, transition etc., the ability to phase these out and only select the building out from the back will save an abundance of time, allowing coaches to further zone in on what is really important in these clips, and develop a strategy to overcome any issues found.

PLAY has a variety of analysis options for how coaches and staff want to structure a video session with players in preparation for the next match or look back at last weeks. Coaches have the ability to upload entire match long pieces of footage, and can either manually, or as described before, have PLAY’s Metrica Cloud Engine do all the hard work for you. The options are limitless for any football club who wishes to strengthen their analytical and tactical capabilities.

PLAY’s automated tracking data saves countless hours to provide a superior product to coaching staffs across the globe. Tagging clips with key phrases allows coaches to quickly find examples of focal points in the match to be analysed and investigated. The easy to navigate software is easy for both coaches to use, but to also present to other staff, board members and players, with relevant and appealing graphics as opposed to traditional stats and graphs. The automatic tracking feature can allow coaches to opt in and out of necessary analytical points to cater to what coaches explicitly want.

For more information on how Metrica Sports can benefit your coaching staff, click here

Previous ArticleNext Article

How Musco Lighting is Transforming the Game

Avatar
Image Credit: Musco Lighting

Lighting quality, uniformity, and control are three of the most important elements a football venue must master. Done well, they elevate the standard of play, enhance the fan experience, and ensure world-class broadcasts. 

Modern football demands more than just traditional floodlights. From community fields to elite stadiums, facilities need solutions that combine performance, efficiency, and reliability.

Musco Lighting believes their systems, which are engineered LED technologies, modular mini-pitch packages, and advanced control platforms are the key to achieving these goals.

Musco’s “Projects Made Simple” approach offers complete, tailored lighting solutions designed for every level of the game. Central to this is Total Light Control for LED, a system that provides precise light distribution while reducing glare and minimising environmental spill.

Complementing Total Light Control for LED is Musco’s Mini-Pitch System, developed in the U.S. Soccer Foundation. These compact, all-in-one facilities combine fencing, goals, benches, storage, and integrated lighting, transforming underused spaces into safe, vibrant football environments.

Features of Musco’s lighting include; uniform illumination across the pitch, therefore eliminating dark zones; advanced glare reduction, which ensures comfort for players, spectators and surrounding areas of the pitch; and smart monitoring, which allows operators to remotely control and schedule the lighting. The lighting company also uses sustainable practices with the ability to have energy savings of up to 60%. 

Musco’s systems have already been used by some of the biggest names in football.

At Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal FC, the installation of Musco’s SportsCluster Green LED system has been transformative according to Arsenal’s Stadium and Facilities Director, John Beattie.

“It is important for both players and fans alike that we have top-quality lighting for the club’s evening fixtures and Musco’s new floodlights provide just that.” he said. 

AFC Bournemouth faced the challenge of upgrading their facilities following promotion to the Premier League in 2015 but Club General Manager Liz Finney said the company’s product was crucial.

“We needed to install a new pitch lighting system to meet the requirements of both the club and the Premier League in a fairly short space of time. Musco delivered on all counts.” Finney said. 

Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Audi Field in Washington D.C. have reported improved player visibility, enhanced broadcast quality, and major energy savings following their adoption of Musco’s technology.

Australia’s football landscape presents unique challenges. Facilities often serve multiple sports, grassroots participation is rapidly expanding, and professional leagues increasingly demand higher broadcast standards.

Musco’s systems offer important benefits to help with this development, these include mini-pitch installations, which could expand access to safe well lit spaces in urban areas, which would help to support grassroots growth.

Another benefit could be that elite stadiums could meet higher broadcast standards to match international scale games. Finally, using Musco would create energy savings and have a reduced environmental aspect.

Musco’s football lighting solutions are much more than a technical upgrade, they also represent a shift in how football is played, viewed, and experienced. By pairing innovation with reliability, they support the game from grassroots fields to international arenas.

As Australia looks to strengthen its football infrastructure, Musco’s proven effective technology could help bridge the gap between community play and world-class competition.

Overall, the use of Musco Lighting systems could greatly improve football in Australia, whether you are playing or watching the game.

GIS Industry Masterclass Highlights Pathways for Women’s Sport

Avatar
Image Credit: Soccerscene

This month, the Global Institute of Sport (GIS) held an industry masterclass with guest speakers discussing the future of development in women’s sport.

The masterclass panel had two key speakers:

  • Chantella Perera, General Manager of Sport at KOJO.
  • Yael Reed, a sports marketing consultant who has worked with Newcastle Jets, Football Australia and Netball NSW.

These two industry experts, representing different areas of the women’s sporting world, delved into answering the event’s important goal of growth and sponsorship in women’s sport.

The role that media and commercial partners have in elevating women’s sport was a key point. Discussion was centred around the importance of encouraging broadcasters to invest in women’s sport directly and not just through male sport avenues.

Yael Reed spoke about the importance of media revenue being invested into women’s sports.

“Media partners with broadcast and commercial revenue is ultimately what is invested in the sport, and you need to invest to grow,” she said.

“Broadcast and commercial revenue also contributes to paying the players

“Media and coverage revenue is what is invested into the sport and their support is needed to help sports to grow, but also to benefit from, Women’s sport is no longer the steak knives.”

Chantella Perera, a former professional sportsperson and with KOJO a big leader in women’s sports events, outlined the position of women’s sports:

“From grassroots we see more equity with facilities and infrastructure for girls now. From my field in the event world lens, the investment from clubs and leagues is improving year on year. The disparity is still huge,” Perera said.

“There must be money invested to grow it. Yes, it is changing—a lot more females can do it as a job.

“But I feel we are still talking a lot but not doing a lot. People can make action, and it doesn’t have to be huge actions. Making those small steps towards that change is where we move forward.

“The Matildas’ success at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has sparked a rise in interest towards women’s football in the country.”

Perera, however, commented on the slow impact it has produced:

“It did have an impact with the eyes and traction, but we are still waiting for the influx of cash,”

“I’d challenge the effect and ask: two years on, have we seen enough from it? I just want to see if we can get more from it.”

A key point regarding investing in women’s sport and central to the discussion was how to invest in the differences between men’s and women’s sport.

Reed expressed her key ways in which this step can be tackled:

“It’s important for brands to consider Who they are trying to connect with? The benefit of women’s sport is it’s fresh and new (compared to men’s sport). There’s a lot to be unexpected. There are amazing people playing the sport and their story needs to be told,”

“I think when you can connect with athletes, with clubs, and harness that promotion and opportunity that’s there with women’s sport.

“The opportunity in women’s sport is to expect the unexpected.” Reed highlighted.

The important question of brand alignment became central to the discussion, with the equation for branding being relevance multiplied by emotion equals impact.

To harness the sponsor’s relevance to the team and the sport, harnessing that emotion and being relevant to the fans and showing up for them and having an impact promotes any brand.

An example presented by Reed was the Suzuki partnership with the Swifts:

“By putting players in their content and in the car the swift has been really positive,”

“The business case is there. We now have a greater asset in women’s sport to take your brands to the next level

“To have a women’s demographic is such a good asset for business branding.”

Women’s sport has faced challenges in gaining support and funding to expand and delve into the ever-growing popularity of the women’s game.

Sponsorships and businesses trying to grow their portfolio and market shouldn’t underestimate the power that women’s sport and football have.

It is unique and it is unexpected, as was discussed centrally in this masterclass.

The ways to grow women’s sport are there, and the benefits are evident. Sponsors need to take the necessary step and will undoubtedly reap the rewards if they do so.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend