In collaboration with the Football Federation Australia (FFA) and the Pararoos, the Ottomin Foundation had the privilege of hosting a Sports Science lunch. The occasion included a presentation on sports medicine and data in sport from Phil Coles, the FFA’s High Performance data guru and was accompanied by representatives of the Pararoos, who will soon represent Australia at the 2019 IFCPF World Cup in July.
Phil’s presentation provided interesting insights and entertaining examples on how a player’s performance can be quantified, understood and enhanced within a team. Questions from guests on how data science can be used to prevent injury and identify future talented sportspeople led to some informative and intriguing discussion. The future use of data science techniques, such as machine learning, in the accurate quantification of fatigue, prediction of muscle fibre type, and the prediction of injuries and post-injury recovery time will ultimately be the next big leap in this space.
Pararoos Co-Vice Captains, Ben Roche and Chris Pyne, also gave a presentation on their journey to the World Cup. The Pararoos team has a tough group stage ahead, which comprises the current number one ranked nation, Ukraine; a recent rival, Argentina (ranked fifth); and the home team, Spain (ranked sixteenth). However, they could not be more excited to represent Australia at the World Cup, even with the challenges they face day-to-day in order to prepare for games.
Richard Kovacs, Ottomin Foundation Chairman said, “we were honoured to host the lunch, which allowed for some enlightening and lively conversation with respect to the Pararoos’ inspirational journey to the World Cup and how data utilisation can maximise a team’s potential. Thank you to all the presenters and guests who attended and contributed to the event.”
