SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento Republic FC’s preseason is in full swing and fans have welcomed a lot of new faces. But there is another new addition to the team less visible to fans: GPS technology.
This season Sacrament Republic FC’s football staff added Playertek to the tools used by the club to evaluate and analyze the team’s performance. Playertek is a GPS performance tracker that is worn by a player using a vest-like light base layer that holds it in place. The actual device is very small and does not obstruct a player’s movement. It is worn by players during both their training sessions and matches.
“It’s a brilliant piece of equipment in terms of if any of our players needs topping up, the GPS could support us in trying to mirror what the players get out of a game fitness-wise,” said Republic FC Head Coach and Technical Director Paul Buckle. “We’ll know that everyone’s being kept at the same fitness levels so when they come in and they get their opportunity, they’re ready. That’s a massive part that’s going to add value, no doubt.”
Playertek can record ten different types of metrics, including distance covered, number of sprints, sprint distance, speed of a player and number of “power plays,” or periods of brief, high intensity. The metrics recorded are stored and downloaded, and then converted by Playertek’s software into information that can be easily read and compared by the training staff.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento Republic FC’s preseason is in full swing and fans have welcomed a lot of new faces. But there is another new addition to the team less visible to fans: GPS technology.
This season Sacrament Republic FC’s football staff added Playertek to the tools used by the club to evaluate and analyze the team’s performance. Playertek is a GPS performance tracker that is worn by a player using a vest-like light base layer that holds it in place. The actual device is very small and does not obstruct a player’s movement. It is worn by players during both their training sessions and matches.
“It’s a brilliant piece of equipment in terms of if any of our players needs topping up, the GPS could support us in trying to mirror what the players get out of a game fitness-wise,” said Republic FC Head Coach and Technical Director Paul Buckle. “We’ll know that everyone’s being kept at the same fitness levels so when they come in and they get their opportunity, they’re ready. That’s a massive part that’s going to add value, no doubt.”
Playertek can record ten different types of metrics, including distance covered, number of sprints, sprint distance, speed of a player and number of “power plays,” or periods of brief, high intensity. The metrics recorded are stored and downloaded, and then converted by Playertek’s software into information that can be easily read and compared by the training staff.
“We can see how hard a player is working during a game and we can also see how they’re moving on the field, where they are moving on the field,” said Dr. Jesse Saenz who leads the club’s sports and science staff.
“It will also give us an idea if a player’s performance has dropped off in the second half, how they’re moving in the second half, or if they’re sprinting as much in the second half as they did in the first half.”
Playertek is not only important to Republic FC in terms of using the metrics recorded to bring the best out of a player, but it can also be used to help players during rehabilitation in case of injury. The information that is recorded from when a player is healthy is used to compare data as a player begins to train again after an injury. The medical staff can then gauge when a player has returned to their top level of fitness and is ready for first team training again.
“We can use the metrics gained during those on-field rehab sessions to determine how close they are back to first team fitness,” said Saenz. “So that way we take a player that has been rehabilitated and give them back to the manager and the coaching staff in a state that will not bring down the first teams’ quality of play during training and we can also minimize the risk of injury by making sure they are reincorporated in a very strong state.”
Republic FC’s training staff first brought in Playertek on a trial run with the club’s Academy, working out kinks and developing questions for Playertek’s team of engineers in order to use it to the technology to its full potential. The equipment is now being incorporated into the first team’s training arsenal.
Playertek is based in Dundalk, Ireland, and Sacramento Republic FC first became aware of the company when Saenz was working in England for Hull City FC and met Playertek CEO Ronan Mac Ruairi. Although the company is newer on the market of GPS performance trackers, it has already amassed a wide range of clients and is working with clubs in top international leagues.
Two of Playertek’s most notable clients are English Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and Scottish Premier League club Celtic FC, one of the most successful clubs in the SPL with 46 Scottish League titles. Another notable client is Luton Town FC, an English League 2 club, which current Republic FC Head Coach and Technical Director Paul Buckle managed from 2012-2013.
“The top teams in football are using GPS systems to better monitor training loads for injury prevention and for rehabilitation”, said Saenz. “I think it’s going to be great and we’re going to enjoy the advantage of having Playertek.”
“We can see how hard a player is working during a game and we can also see how they’re moving on the field, where they are moving on the field,” said Dr. Jesse Saenz who leads the club’s sports and science staff.
“It will also give us an idea if a player’s performance has dropped off in the second half, how they’re moving in the second half, or if they’re sprinting as much in the second half as they did in the first half.”
Playertek is not only important to Republic FC in terms of using the metrics recorded to bring the best out of a player, but it can also be used to help players during rehabilitation in case of injury. The information that is recorded from when a player is healthy is used to compare data as a player begins to train again after an injury. The medical staff can then gauge when a player has returned to their top level of fitness and is ready for first team training again.
“We can use the metrics gained during those on-field rehab sessions to determine how close they are back to first team fitness,” said Saenz. “So that way we take a player that has been rehabilitated and give them back to the manager and the coaching staff in a state that will not bring down the first teams’ quality of play during training and we can also minimize the risk of injury by making sure they are reincorporated in a very strong state.”
Republic FC’s training staff first brought in Playertek on a trial run with the club’s Academy, working out kinks and developing questions for Playertek’s team of engineers in order to use it to the technology to its full potential. The equipment is now being incorporated into the first team’s training arsenal.
Playertek is based in Dundalk, Ireland, and Sacramento Republic FC first became aware of the company when Saenz was working in England for Hull City FC and met Playertek CEO Ronan Mac Ruairi. Although the company is newer on the market of GPS performance trackers, it has already amassed a wide range of clients and is working with clubs in top international leagues.
Two of Playertek’s most notable clients are English Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and Scottish Premier League club Celtic FC, one of the most successful clubs in the SPL with 46 Scottish League titles. Another notable client is Luton Town FC, an English League 2 club, which current Republic FC Head Coach and Technical Director Paul Buckle managed from 2012-2013.
“The top teams in football are using GPS systems to better monitor training loads for injury prevention and for rehabilitation”, said Saenz. “I think it’s going to be great and we’re going to enjoy the advantage of having Playertek.”
