Blast Motion, a sensor technology company that helps athletes track performance metrics, has announced a strategic partnership with a leading college athletic recruiting network.
Already the official bat sensor for the MLB, Blast said it is now partnering with Next College Student Athlete, a for-profit platform that helps coaches scout and recruit athletes out of high school. The service will initially be available for baseball players, though Blast plans to expand to softball and golf in the coming months.
As part of the deal, Blast Motion will pair its performance metrics and video with NCSA athlete profiles (for those ages 13 and older) so they can populate their resumes with up-to-date performance statistics that coaches can use as a basis for recruitment. Some 300 college programs, including more than half of the Big 12, SEC, Pac-12, ACC, and Big Ten, currently use Blast Connect premium services to collect player data and insights for coaching, player development and recruiting.
“NCSA is breaking new ground by integrating a player’s performance data, captured by Blast, to enhance collegiate recruiting,” said Blast CEO Michael Fitzpatrick, in a statement. “The longer an athlete trains utilizing our insights, the better their performance and chance of obtaining a scholarship. Blast provides collegiate recruiters with reliable and objective data, allowing them to make a more informed decision.”
NCSA, which is wholly-owned subsidiary of Reigning Champs LLC, connects hundreds of thousands of college-bound student-athletes to more than 35,000 college coaches across 34 sports each year. The company’s toolset not only provides a platform for athletes to promote themselves, but it also guides students and their families through the college athletic recruiting process, which includes the academic component. As part of this deal with Blast Motion, NCSA will open its educational recruiting tools and information to all Blast Connect athletes who create an NCSA profile and opt-in to use the service.
Blast Motion’s products use sensors and biomechanics to capture motion and provide swing analysis, such as ball exit velocity for baseball, launch angle, and projected distance. Earlier this year, Blast updated its metrics for premium subscribers to include a player’s plane, connection, and rotation.
SportTechie Takeaway
After gaining a foothold in professional sports following its MLB deal and a golf partnership with TaylorMade, Blast Motion has been working to expand vertically into youth and amateur sports. Earlier this year, the company announced a deal with SquadLocker, an online marketplace for kids’ leagues, to expand its golf and baseball measurement tools to youth sports.
Now, with this NCSA partnership, the company is looking to fill that gap between youth and collegiate sports by creating a data bridge for recruitment. Its platform could enable golf, baseball and softball athletes to use its tracking tools from an early age, then slowly build their profiles and carry data through high school into the college recruiting process and beyond.