Football has become an increasingly analytical and stat based sport.  The huge success of Moneyball highlighted the tremendous performance gains that can be made by seemingly modest teams if they follow the data driven doctrine.

The success of the book, and subsequent film, has prompted the majority of professional teams to deploy platforms such as ProZone to monitor pretty much every aspect of a players performance.

There are an estimated 100,000 athletes in the ProZone system alone having their technique, fitness and all manner of other performance related stats measured on a daily basis.

Bringing pro analysis to amateur sports

Of course, such statistical support does not come cheap, with licenses typically costing upwards of $100,000 a year.  It’s a level of investment that inevitably puts it out of the reach of amateur athletes.

An attempt to redress the balance has been supplied via an Australian startup.  StatsOne is a free app that claims to give amateurs the same analytical support as services like ProZone offer to the pros.

The project is the work of Smart Sports Solutions and offers players and coaches the ability to both monitor and analyze their performance.

The process is relatively straightforward.  Players are filmed during matches and training sessions using the StatsOne app.  The software then goes to work processing the footage.  It’s capable of crunching up to 1,000 data points per athlete per game.  It can pick out successful (or unsuccessful) passes, crosses, shots, tackles, and of course, goals.

At the end of the game or training session, the player is given a scorecard by the system to analyze their overall performance.  This access to measurable statistics will hopefully drive improvements in their game, whilst also giving valuable insights to coaches, and even talent scouts.