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Home / New Zealand

Sports analysis puts students on track for NCEA

Nicholas Jones
By Nicholas Jones
Investigative Reporter·NZ Herald·
9 Feb, 2015 04:00 PM4 mins to read

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Kelston boys Desio Te'O Palamo, left, Taylor Storr and Tahquinn Hansen help gather data on athletic performance. Photo / Nick Reed

Kelston boys Desio Te'O Palamo, left, Taylor Storr and Tahquinn Hansen help gather data on athletic performance. Photo / Nick Reed

Technology bringing playing field into classroom.

Students taking part in a sports technology course at an Auckland high school will attend the training sessions of top teams.

But those keen to watch the Blues and other teams are not all huge sports fans. Some students have more interest in software or graphic design, media or nutrition.

"We have a lot of kids who are maybe a little bit interested in sport but actually are more interested in information technology or another area," said Kelston Boys' High School principal Brian Evans.

As the long-time coach of the Black Ferns, Mr Evans has witnessed the rise of technology in top-level sports.

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The idea for the programme at his school came after Jamie Tout from VX Sport worked with the Black Ferns.

Lower Hutt-based VX Sport is at the forefront of sports technology worldwide, and its staff often travel to countries including the United States, Dubai and Australia to work with sports teams.

As one example, the company used biometric monitoring systems to track jockeys' heart rates during recent Wellington Cup races, as well as the speed of the horses.

A sports scientist and a graphic designer were sent to the track.

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High definition cameras in the jockeys' glasses recorded video that was then posted on social media, with graphics displaying the heart-rate and speed on screen.

Mr Tout said that while that was entertaining for fans - seeing the jump out of the barrier, acceleration and jostling with other riders - the information supplied to the trainers had a more serious purpose.

"They are keen on knowing, 'How quickly can my horse accelerate, how long can it sustain high speeds for? Has it actually run 1200 metres, or because it is stuck three horses wide has it run further?'"

Kelston has collaborated with VX Sports as well as the University of South Australia to establish an NCEA Level 2 Vocational Pathway based on the technology and data that are used extensively in sports.

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The Vocational Pathway system allows a student to choose a particular vocation and study towards and gain credits in a way that is suited to that job or industry.

Around 25 boys will spend two hours a day on the course, relating practical tasks to subjects including mathematics, English and science.

"For instance, a mathematics teacher will incorporate statistics into analysis of data gleaned from activity or sports - power-weight ratios, all that sort of stuff," Mr Evans said.

"They might hook the 1st XV up [with monitoring devices] on a Saturday, and they will then take the data away and analyse it and come up with reports."

Those reports will require English skills but also graphic design in order to visually present what they have learned.

Kelston is approaching Auckland sporting teams to arrange for students to see how what they are learning is relevant.

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"They'll go to a training, but they won't be just there watching the training. They'll be in the back room watching all the data come through," Mr Evans said.

Mr Tout said it was a mistake to think his industry was limited to "sports types". VX Sports employed a diverse staff including mathematicians, software designers, hardware engineers and graphic designers.

"Some of the techies don't understand that soccer and rugby balls are different shapes, and some of the sports guys don't understand one end of the keyboard from the other."

Crunching data
*Students taking a sports technology course will attend the training sessions of Auckland's top teams.
*Kelston Boys' High School has collaborated with VX Sports as well as the University of South Australia.
*This is to establish an NCEA Level 2 Vocational Pathway based on the technology and data that are used extensively in sports.
*25 boys will spend two hours a day on the course. Kelston is approaching Auckland teams to arrange for students to see how what they are learning is relevant.

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