Our Round Table Series looks at topical issues and brings together smart minds from across our membership in areas of sport, business and thought leadership. Our October session focused on the rapidly evolving world of sports analytics. We were hosted by Accenture whose offices on Grand Canal Square provided the kind of environment in which ‘horizon’ thinking could be brought out from those who joined us.
On Friday we published the first half of a list of 10 key take aways to emerge from the open and free flow of discussion that took place. The second half is now revealed below.
We will make contact this morning with a number of our members about two very exciting initiatives which we will pursue. Those will be shared with our full membership first next week and then with our wider readership as they develop. These are exciting times.
Our Second 5 of 10 Take-Away thoughts on the world of Sports Analytics
- We currently have 2,000 graduates a year coming out of education with a qualification in sports science. The strong emphasis here is currently in physical fitness which is obviously very important but a greater emphasis on sports analytics within those courses could develop a more vocational slant to the courses and produce a higher ’employability’ factor within the sector.
- Because sports analytics is a young science it is evolving at a rapid rate. The famous ‘Moneyball’ approach to data of baseball coach Billy Bean might have been dismissed as a one off, that lost its edge once everybody started to apply the same logic. But the teams that buy into analytics are continuing to maintain their own advantage through continually refining measurements and producing ‘new tricks’ that have a long way to go before the full benefit is even close to realisation.
- The core skills in terms of mathematics and data analytics that are being fed out of secondary education are not sufficiently strong to maintain an edge for Ireland in the sports analytics world. A greater understanding of how to slice and dice the data that is being produced through monitoring is needed to fulfil this potential.
- The detailed understanding of behaviour and results that can be obtained through greater emphasis on analysing data can lead to new ways of approaching the coaching of sport at all levels and produce results for business. Analysis of reaction times that are developed in sport can translate for example into better ‘banding’ of car insurance. The same technology could be applied to judge reaction times in braking that are currently used in sports preparation. This could lead to a reduction in premium costs. The principle of rewarding good behaviour as opposed to punishing bad could lead to better business models and better overall behaviour in our everyday lives.
- Understanding the connection between physical health and mental aptitude can be a real benefit from an increased emphasis on sports analytics within schools. Survey material published this month in the UK showed that every 17 minutes worth of physical activity among boys aged 11 led to a step change in grades obtained in core school subjects. Every 12 minutes improvement by girls had a positive impact with science results showing a significant improvement.
You can read the first five take aways here.
The final part of our review of the Sport for Business Round Table on Sports Analytics will include three initiatives which are currently being explored within our membership with a view to delivering tangible results for sport, business and Ireland.
These initiatives will be revealed to our full members later this week to see how they might be able to contribute to their coming to life, and benefit from them; and then to our broader audience as they develop.
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