The information available to a sports scientist is diverse and constantly increasing due to advancements in technology and database and communication systems. Similarly data related to club memberships, promotional strategies, player contracts and viewership is readily available to sporting club managers. There is a need in sport to store, analyse, consolidate and interpret data and communicate this information to coaches and support staff in a timely manner. Additionally the sports scientist must be able to translate this information into practice. This unit will introduce students to data analytics (e.g. finding meaningful patterns within large data sets) and its use in sport. Students will learn how to manage large data sets from a range of sources including athlete tracking (e.g. GPS), injury, match statistics and athlete wellbeing. Students will be introduced to a range of analysis techniques and will learn how to develop their own algorithms and identify key-performance indicators. Students will learn how to critically appraise and use technology in order to complement their knowledge base and practice.
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
There are no defined assessment requirements for this unit.
Selected readings will be made available via the unit VU Collaborate site.
This unit is not compulsory for any specific course. Depending on the course you study, this unit may be taken as an elective.