PolarCool: Increasing performance and recovery in football

PolarCool

PolarCool is a company that provides advanced cooling solutions to treat concussion for a wide range of industries – first established in 2010 and based in Lund, Sweden

The PolarCap is PolarCool’s flagship product, a personal cooling system that uses evaporative cooling technology to provide instant relief from heat stress. The PolarCap is a headband that can be worn in a variety of environments, including sporting events, outdoor activities, workplaces, and construction sites.

PolarCool, in addition to the PolarCap, offers a variety of other cooling products such as cooling vests, cooling towels, and cooling fans. These products make use of cutting-edge cooling technologies to keep people cool and comfortable in hot environments.

Football is a sport that is known for its physicality and intensity – players are at a high risk of injury, including concussions. Concussions are a form of brain trauma that can have serious long-term effects if not treated properly. In recent years, there has been growing concern about the impact of concussions on athletes, and many organisations have been working to develop new strategies and technologies to help athletes recover from these injuries more quickly and effectively.

The PolarCap has been specifically designed for use in sports, and it is especially effective for football players. Football is a sport that requires a high level of physical endurance, and players are at risk of heat exhaustion and other forms of heat stress. In addition to its benefits for brain trauma recovery, the PolarCap also has a number of other potential applications in sports. For example, it can be used to prevent heat exhaustion and other forms of heat stress in athletes.

There is a growing body of research that supports the use of cooling therapy for the treatment of concussions. One study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma found that cooling therapy can reduce inflammation and improve neurological outcomes in rats with traumatic brain injury. Another study published in the Journal of Athletic Training found that cooling therapy can reduce the risk of second-impact syndrome, a rare but potentially deadly condition that can occur when an athlete returns to play too soon after a concussion.

Due to the positive results shown in the study, the Swedish Ice Hockey League (SHL) has formed a partnership with PolarCool, which ensures that a PolarCap is available at every arena in order to treat concussions.

PolarCool has most recently made waves in football by forming a partnership with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) along with various rugby clubs which include Racing 92, Stade Francais, London Irish, and Scarlets Rugby.

But the benefits of the PolarCap go beyond just preventing heat exhaustion. For athletes who have experienced brain trauma, the PolarCap can be an incredibly valuable tool in the recovery process. By reducing inflammation and promoting healing in the brain, the PolarCap can help athletes recover more quickly and effectively from concussions and other forms of brain trauma.

During one of Wales’ World Cup group matches, a Welsh player suffered a concussion after a speculative shot was blocked with the top of their head.

The player was subsequently treated using PolarCap thanks to the ongoing partnership between the FAW and PolarCool.

After Wales ran on-pitch tests, adhering to FIFA’s guidelines, the player was initially passed to play on before being subbed off 12 minutes later.

The player was then treated with PolarCap for the recommended time of 45 minutes to help reduce his elevated brain temperature and therefore relieve symptoms and potential long-term effects.

This partnership for PolarCool is another progressive step towards improved treatment of concussion incidents in football, an area of the game that has been under heavy scrutiny in recent years.

Aside from the health benefits of using PolarCap for players recovering from a concussion, professional clubs, and organisations can benefit financially from adopting PolarCap.

PolarCool conducted additional research based on the Lund University study’s 5-year clinical results to demonstrate the cost of concussion for sports teams and the financial benefits of using PolarCap.

According to the research, investing in PolarCap is cost-effective because it drastically reduces the injury sunk cost for teams and organisations. The annual injury cost savings for an SHL team were around $51,000.  The average savings for an English Premier League club were calculated to be approximately $257,000

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Uplift Labs: Redefining movement analytics in sports

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Uplift Labs was created by co-founders Sukemasa Kabayama, Jonathan Wills, and Rahul Rajan. Each brings years of experience in tech innovation, uniting their expertise to build a cutting-edge startup dedicated to improving human movement.

Mission

Uplift Labs is driven by a mission to enhance human movement performance across all aspects of life.

Their AI-powered technology delivers advanced analytics designed to optimise performance while reducing the risk of injury across sports, fitness, and daily activities.

With a strong focus on movement and health, Uplift places human interaction at the forefront of coaching and training, helping people move better in all areas of life.

Key Partnerships

Uplift Labs collaborates with a range of leading organisations to push the boundaries of movement technology, including:

LAFC

AWS Startups

Nvidia Inception Program

Driveline Baseball

Athletes Unlimited

Investment Profile

Uplift Labs is backed by a prestigious group of institutional and individual investors. This includes prominent professional athletes such as Seth and Callie Curry, David DeCastro, Eric Gagné, Marc Gasol, Andrew Luck, and Renee Montgomery, as well as celebrated Olympic medallists including Kosei Inoue, Kosuke Kitajima, and Yuki Ota.

With a unique combination of cutting-edge AI, strategic partnerships, and world-class support, Uplift Labs is poised to transform how movement is understood, trained, and optimised.

Solutions

The company’s solutions are split into three categories of Sports performance, Sports medicine and Sports media. This is Uplift’s vision on how to tackle these issues in sports.

Sports Performance

Gather accurate and reliable data for comprehensive movement analysis.

Track 28 key points to generate kinematics and movement-specific events and metrics across entire athletic movements.

Optimise your athletes’ movement performance.

Elevate your assessment of athletic movements and unlock athletes’ full potential by analysing functional movements using only iOS devices.

Make data and insights accessible and easy to understand.

Evaluate player movements in a variety of ways across your organisation, from detailed kinematic data to directional reporting and 3D visualisations.

Sports Medicine

Quantify movement health to improve baselines, boost performance, and reduce injury risk.

Establish baseline movement abilities to track improvements and identify potential risk factors.

Perform detailed movement assessments.

Evaluate players or patients and generate reports with valuable, actionable insights. Using iPhones or iPads, our solution reliably captures biomechanical and kinematic data in any environment.

Prioritise player health by minimising injury risks.

Maximise performance and reduce risks by collecting detailed movement data that highlights deficiencies and identifies opportunities for improvement.

Support rehabilitation and recovery with objective measurements.

Use individualised movement analyses, reports, and visualisations to develop informed return-to-play programming and rehabilitation plans. Provide precise Individual Patient reports to guide recovery.

Sports Media

Captivate fans with biomechanical data overlays during live games.

Boost fan engagement by presenting exciting content that overlays biomechanical data, offering a new perspective on elite athletic performance.

Deliver valuable insights in real-time.

Integrate Uplift with your media production pipeline to analyse player movement and provide instant, ready-to-use insights during live commentary or replays.

Enhance the fan experience with clear, engaging visuals.

Offer simple, engaging data on athlete performance and skills to help fans connect with the action. Provide fresh insights for commentary and graphics, helping fans better understand movement analysis in the context of their favourite sports.

Conclusion

As soccer continues to evolve, technology like Uplift Labs’ AI-powered movement analysis is becoming increasingly vital for the sport’s future.

By providing accurate, real-time data and actionable insights, Uplift empowers clubs, players, and medical staff to optimise performance, prevent injuries, and enhance player health.

The ability to track and analyse movement in such detail not only elevates athletic development but also opens new avenues for fan engagement and storytelling.

Making Football Fairer: Dreamstock DSFootball Platform

Player scouting is one of the most challenging and vitally important tasks a club has to manage, without fresh and skillful new players a club will struggle to compete with its peers.

However, scouting can take a significant amount of time, manpower and research, leaving clubs with less resources at a significant disadvantage.

Additionally, for young players aiming for a professional career in football it can be extremely difficult to get noticed, especially if they are unable to frequently travel to far away tryouts.

To bridge the gap, Japanese organisation Dreamstock aims to reshape traditional scouting procedures via technology.

Launched in 2017, Dreamstock operates one of the largest online player selection platforms in the world – DSFootball.

Via DSFootball, Dreamstock strive to achieve three goals on the path to make football fairer for upcoming talents:

  • Create connections between club and players.
  • Generate opportunities through technology and innovation.
  • Transform the scouting market with transparency

DSFootball Platform 

Available in two packages, DSFootball is a multifaceted platform designed to aid both clubs and players. The first package is designed for grassroots clubs and academy players, while the second is a premium version tailored for professional clubs and players.

Through the DSFootball app, players create a profile that details their physical attributes, location, position and footballing history. Additionally, they can upload video clips of their performances to entice clubs to contact them.

For clubs, the DSFootball platform allows them to search for the perfect players to fit their unique needs by filtering their searches.

The platform houses a vast and expansive youth database for players across the U13, U15, U17 and U20 age groups, presenting the aforementioned player profiles to clubs.

These profiles showcase the important player information scouts need to know, so they can determine if potential players are suitable for them or note. Most importantly, the profiles showcase valuable game footage and clips, allowing scouts and coaches to see the potential of players without travelling to see them in person.

Through the DSFootball platform, clubs can individually contact interesting players via their profiles, or they can launch scouting events and tryouts to assess players in person. Furthermore, DSFootball allows for direct contact to player representatives to foster important connections and conversations.

Via DSFootball, Dreamstock provides a way for clubs to access and scout players they normally never would have been able to under traditional methods, as it drastically reducing barriers for upcoming young players.

In providing each of these services, DSFootball acts as a one-stop-shop for clubs, significantly reducing the amount of hassle they are subjected to.

Global Impact 

Developing from its two headquarters in Brazil and Japan, Dreamstock has achieved significant success in its short lifespan via the DSFootball platform. With the company and its platform having grown active in over 36 countries, encompassing more than 200 clubs and 50 leagues.

Through their work, Dreamstock has fostered key partnerships with premier competitions such as the Bundesliga, Serie A, Eredivisie and even Australia’s very own A-League.

As a product, DSFootball has been revolutionary. With over one million registered players on DSFootball, Dreamstock has created a premier destination for clubs to select future stars from, connecting players to clubs at a faster and more expansive rate than ever before.

For players, DSFootball has proven to be an excellent way to develop personally and attract attention from clubs. Of the one million plus registered players on the DSFootball platform, more than 100,000 are active participants in selection.

There is no sign of Dreamstock slowing down either, attaining over two million website views each month, illustrating a continued desire for the platform.

For more information on Dreamstock and the DSFootball platform, click here.

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