The introduction of the Playermaker technology

The Waterstone College’s Soccer Academy recently introduced the Playermaker technology and became the only South African football academy to have this innovative athlete performance tracking platform at its disposal.

Designed for football at every level, Playermaker consists of a smart motion sensor strapped to players’ boots that detects valuable data to help improve a player’s game.

To read the data, the sensor must be removed from the boot and plugged into the sensor box. The data provides the players and coaching staff with insights on their technical, tactical, and physical analysis.

The technology, which is used by international football clubs, easily allows coaches to identify players key performance indicators. Instead of having to identify each individual’s strength and weaknesses over time, coaches are now able to identify these strengths from the data obtained during a single session.

Aki Anastasiou, a local tech guru, was overwhelmed by how the technology works. He has recommended it to a few local professional teams.

“It’s quite a clever technology to have at any academy because it gives you valuable information that you won’t normally have access to. The technology works well but doesn’t come cheap, that’s why it’s used by teams like Chelsea and Leicester,” said Anastasiou.

Anastasiou said he was grateful to the school for inviting him to the academy to learn about the new technology.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t go out into the field to play, but I sat with the coaches after training and the data provides valuable details on every player,” he added.

According to Waterstone College’s head of soccer, Gavin Andrew, the academy researched ways to improve its training programme by using technology and came across various tools.

“The aim was to find an in-depth tracking technology tool that will give us more insights about both the technical and tactical aspects and Playermaker was exactly what we were looking for. The footwear device is used on over 100 players’ boots at the school and has exceeded everyone’s expectations,” Andrew said.

Last week the Department of Basic Education announced that all contact sport in schools is suspended with immediate effect.

This meant that the Waterstone College soccer team is yet to get a chance to have a competitive match since the introduction of the technology.

Jacques Nel, executive head of Waterstone College, added, “The Playermaker is an incredible product and we are excited about the results. Not only does it improve the players’ skills, but it also improves our coaches’ delivery of coaching sessions.”