Aspire Academy, one of the world’s leading youth athlete academies, and the global technology company SAP have decided to work together to drive Qatar’s youth sports development programmes, thanks to a partnership announced yesterday.
The Aspire Academy coaches, sport scientists, athletes, and management will be able to easily access real-time data on athlete performance development, sports science, and sports operations management on any mobile devices, supporting global best practices in youth athlete development.
On one platform, users can access data such as match results, development summaries, competition plans, and sports science profiles from Aspire Academy’s clubs and leagues. Aspire Academy and SAP will also explore innovations in feedback visualisation, predictive analytics, and cognitive training.
According to a recent study by the University of Toronto, the global sports analytics market is set to grow from USD $125 million in 2014 to USD $4.7 billion in 2021, which demonstrates a strong potential for the partnership.
“Aspire Academy is at the forefront of transforming youth development with analytics, as coaches can optimize line-ups on tablets, players can review match highlights on smartphones, and trainers can track player fitness and fatigue. Co-innovating with Aspire Academy will leverage global best practices in sports analytics and science, starting from the development level,” said Stefan Wagner, senior vice President and Global general manager of the Sports and Entertainment Industry at SAP.
The partnership is being touted to be the first time that a national sports academy has signed with a global technology company. Aspire Academy aims to become the world’s leading youth sports academy by 2020 and is expanding with the launch of Qatar’s first national centre for football in 2017.
Qatar is rapidly developing its national teams in line with becoming a global sporting hub, as the country is hosting the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
“Qatar has high expectations for sport, but a small talent pool. By becoming a global leader in data management and analytics using SAP HANA, Aspire will continue to deliver unparalleled coaching and training for Qatari youth, and players across our worldwide network of clubs, in order to develop Qatar’s sporting culture and competitive sporting advantage,” said Aspire Academy director of Strategy Markus Egger.
SAP will share expertise from its SAP Sports One solutions in Big Data analytics, which has been used by the German National Football team to help win the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Clubs and leagues co-innovating with SAP include City Football Group, FC Bayern Munich, and TSG Hoffenheim among others.