The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs were looking for a way for their players to practice more efficiently. So the Australian professional rugby club became the first to sign up for Velpic Sport, a new electronic coaching platform.
Now its players are better at remembering and understanding match statistics and how to use them for overall improvement.
“The player engagement through Velpic has increased dramatically, players are accessing the information over and over, and retention and comprehension of the game statistics has gone to another level,” Andy Patmore, the Bulldogs’ Pathway Performance Manager, said in a statement announcing Velpic Sport on Wednesday. “Players are more engaged at team training than ever before.”
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Velpic Sport was developed by Velpic Limited and offers team trainers and coaches — such as those of the Bulldogs — a mobile platform to manage nearly all aspects of team training. Using an internet-connected phone, tablet or laptop, coaches can manage off-field training, create and schedule lessons, track players and provide videos of previous matches or training sessions.
The system seems equally beneficial to the athletes, who can instantly access videos, notes from the coach and off-field training. Velpic Sport also supports training programs for health, social media and other areas.
“After a match, I can easily distribute game statistics, my notes, videos and schedules to players. Players now come to training sessions prepared remembering mistakes from the previous match and the areas they have to focus on in training having absorbed my feedback,” Patmore, also a former player, said in the announcement.
“The platform is very user-friendly and easy to access via mobile and the players have given great feedback on their experience in the platform.”
With Velpic Sport, the parent company Velpic Limited is clearly seeking to gain traction in a market that a U.S. research firm has projected to grow to $1.1 billion Australian dollars by 2021, according to the announcement. Velpic Limited is traded on the Australian Securities Exchange.
“We are very proud to partner with the Canterbury Bulldogs and deliver immediate results through our innovative eCoaching platform, Velpic Sport,” Velpic CEO Russell Francis said in a statement. “The focus of our product strategy is to expand our platform into new segments and markets in which there is an opportunity to change the rules of the game through our disruptive eLearning technology.”
Though Velpic Sport could potentially have competition in the sports training arena — U.S. football teams seem to be rapidly implementing virtual reality training solutions, which may expand overseas — it offers the Canterbury Bulldogs an innovative approach to improving their performance on the rugby pitch, with data and video to help in the process.