NEW feature launch: SQUAD

New Squad feature puts player-led GPS monitoring technology within reach of amateur coaches for the first time

PLAYR has taken a major step in its evolution with the addition of Squad, a feature allowing stats to be compared within a team.

The Squad feature enables coaches to monitor team performance without having to own and operate the technology themselves, as they would in a professional training environment. Coaches can review the workload of their players in matches and training sessions, suggest tactical improvements by reviewing their heatmaps and rely on them getting personalised recommendations on rest, recovery and nutrition from the PLAYR app.  

The Squad feature also allows players themselves to compare their stats after a game, adding a layer of healthy competition whether a coach is involved or not.

“We had a lot of amateur coaches and academies telling us that they wanted to make this player-led technology available to their players,” said Benoit Simeray, Consumer CEO at Catapult Sports. “They wanted a way of monitoring player development while giving the players ownership of the tech.”

“We also recognised that players wanted to compare themselves directly with their friends as well as using the community and pro benchmarks already on offer within the app,” he added. “The Squad feature fulfils both of these demands and represents the next stage in our brand journey.”

Catapult launched PLAYR successfully in the UK in June and in the US in September and is already being used by thousands of soccer players worldwide. PLAYR users have already covered 531,532 km on the pitch, including 29,787 km of sprinting distance, and 2,310,268 power plays.

PLAYR is the first performance technology solution to combine GPS tracking with personalised sports science advice. Consisting of a SmartPod GPS tracker, SmartVest and PLAYR app, the PLAYR system uses the latest GPS player tracking technology, measuring up to 1,250 movements per second to compile speed, distance and heat map data.

The in-app SmartCoach offers personalised sports science and nutrition advice developed with the help of expert coaches including Tony Strudwick (Wales FA) and Matt Reeves (Leicester City). Over 200,000 pieces of SmartCoach advice have been delivered since PLAYR’s launch last year, empowering elite-aspiring players with the tools they need to improve.

The addition of Squad is the next logical step on PLAYR’s journey, answering a need to compare and monitor stats within teams while keeping ownership in the hands of the players.