Atlanta United Campeones Cup Champions!

The Campeones Cup

Atlanta United – a client of The Sports Office – have won the 2019 Campeones Cup

The Campeones Cup is an annual clash between the Champions of the MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX. It is one of North American soccer’s most prestigious prizes. The match saw Atlanta defeat Club Americas 3-2 in the fixture last Thursday. 

The two title winners from each league play each other for the Campeones Title. The Cup began in 2018 with the partnership of the MLS and LMX, it is an opportunity to showcase and heighten the rivalry of North America’s top two soccer leagues.

Atlanta United & The Sports Office:

Atlanta United have been long-term users of The Soccer Squad – The Sports Office’s performance management system for elite football. Last season, we spoke to Atlanta’s Head of Technical Recruitment, Lucy Rushton. She told us about her experiences with The Soccer Squad. 

“The improvement in our data management has allowed us to identify patterns and trends in our performances and coaching.”

She added: “We’ve been using the system for about a year and a half now, and the longer we go on, the more benefit we gain.”

Read the full case study here.

Atlanta United and Club America in Campeones Cup

Last season, Atlanta United won the MLS title and they are enjoying a highly successful 2019 season. They currently lead the MLS Eastern Conference and beat Portland Timbers 2-0 last weekend.

Atlanta United have another chance to win silverware soon. They take on Minnesota United in the US Open Cup FinalWednesday 28th August 1am (GMT) at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

For more information on The Sports Office’s Athlete Management Systems, contact us now.

Client Manager rides to Wembley for charity

Sports Office’ Client Manager Chris Tuson is facing a gruelling, five-day charity bike ride to the capital, as part of ‘Rugby League Cares Ride 2 Wembley‘ challenge.

The 340-mile trip will be completed over a series of daily stages, which vary between 50 and 90 miles. The ride is to raise funds for the Rugby League Cares charity. It supports past and present players with health and wellbeing and contributes to the game’s heritage and culture projects.

Above: Former Super League stars including Robbie Paul and Keith Senior are also involved in the Ride 2 Wembley.

The journey to Wembley begins on Monday 19th August and ends four days later, on the eve of the Challenge Cup Final. A group of 25 riders will depart from Rugby League’s northern heartlands on their epic off-road journey. They will face some of the UK’s toughest terrain, heading south on forest trails, canal towpaths, green lanes and by-ways.

And former Super League player Chris has revealed how he was motivated to become involved, after the charity supported him when his career with Wigan Warriors and Hull FC finished.

He said: “ Rugby League Cares has been great in helping me set-up my life after professional sport. They helped with medical treatments, education and my professional development over the years. I am delighted to be part of the 2019 Ride 2 Wembley’ challenge.”

Riders taking part aim to complete their challenge at the Rugby League Legends statue at Wembley Stadium on Friday afternoon. Just in time to rest up before the 2019 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final.

You can follow Chris Tuson’s Journey to Wembley and donate to Rugby League Cares by clicking here.

The Sports Office’s Electronic Medical Record System

The Sports Office’s Athlete Management System provides a secure and highly-effective centralised hub to store performance, medical and administrative data.

A key part of our solution is the Electronic Medical Records System. Over the last decade this module has been continuously improved to enhance medical data management. We have used client feedback and external sports medicine expertise to make significant enhancements. These include more effective daily workflows for users. We have also ensured compliance with important data-protection policies including HIPAA in the United States and PIPEDA in Canada.

Medical Practitioners using TSO AMS

Our system is not only secure at storing medical data, but can be used to easily analyse all player information. It also provides extensive insight for improved performance, health and wellbeing. This can be an important safety net and mitigation if sporting organisations were to face legal action relating to injury or long term athlete health. The system also improves coordination and accountability of medical personnel in terms of note-keeping, treatments and player rehabilitation.

Data Collection on The Sports Office Systems

Development of a range of Apps to collect player data including The Sports Office App and The Monitoring App are under enhancement now. These feed directly into the Athlete Management System in real-time.

Users can set-up daily wellbeing surveys to gather athlete data which supports performance management and wellbeing. Data can include sleep patterns, fatigue, mental state and other key metrics.

The system’s recently updated medical dashboard instantly displays data and collates critical information into one location. This also offers improved accessibility to other relevant parts of the system, in order to improve workflow and usability.

For more information on our Electronic Medical Record System for elite sports, please contact The Sports Office now.

Implementation for Irish Rugby

The Sports Office are working with the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) to successfully implement our athlete management system for elite rugby (The Rugby Squad) within each of its four provincial teams and their playing structures.

Client Managers Andy Gorski and Stuart Jones have met with athletic performance staff from Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster to further introduce the system. Each province has had the opportunity to configure The Rugby Squad for their specific circumstances

Andy Gorski, Head of Client Service and Stuart Jones, Senior Client Manager, also travelled to Dublin to begin this process with IRFU national teams. The pair met with Head of Athletic Performance, Nick Winkelman, and other key staff.

This support and guidance has been continuous over several months. During initial visits, system configurations and demonstrations took place to ensure compliance with IRFU standards. A workshop session also took place. This enabled staff to give feedback and fine-tune
the system for their own needs, prior to rolling it out to each province.

Stuart Jones commented: “Our implementation visits have been a great success and the meetings enabled all IRFU national team and provincial staff to optimise their use of our systems and tailor it for their needs.

He added: “The provincial teams enjoy fierce rivalries in competitions like the Guinness Pro 14 but, in performance terms, they are a cohesive group which shares the common goal of success for Irish Rugby.”

The IRFU Seven’s staff have already begun to use the system for their global programme. Staff from the Irish under 20s have also been introduced to The Rugby Squad ahead of the World Championships in Argentina this year.

Coaching Workshop at Aviva Stadium

Coaching and performance staff from across Irish Rugby also met at the Aviva Stadium for a workshop outlining the coaching elements of the Sports Office system. IRFU Head of Talent ID, Joe Lydon, began by introducing key player development processes to coaches, assistants and performance analysts. This included discussions relating to coaching sessions, use of data and international player production.

Stuart Jones, Andy Gorski and Client Manager Chris Tuson also hosted a ‘hands-on’ session for coaches to assist them with setting up and using the system.

Full Provincial Roll Out

Andy Gorski commented: “Our sessions were well received and the IRFU staff were very receptive. We believe they will have full confidence in our system, as they begin to use it throughout their structures.”

The Rugby Squad is now being by used by each province and Irish team and has been fully implemented across the organisation. The final provincial visits took place this week ahead of the new season and Rugby World Cup.

To learn more about The Sports Office centralised systems for elite sport with extensive data sharing capabilities contact us now.

England Cricket – World Champions!!

Everyone at The Sports Office is sending massive congratulations to the England cricket team for their magnificent victory in the World Cup final.

The Sports Office supply the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) with Athlete Management Software. The Cricket Squad is used by both County and international teams.

After the thrilling climax at Lords, everybody at our head office was talking about the win over New Zealand and the nail-biting Super Over. The final was an amazing effort by both teams. A monumental performance by England which looks certain to become part of cricket history.

We hope this inspirational performance will encourage increased participation at all levels of the game. We can’t wait for The Ashes this August.

For more information about our Athlete Management Software, contact The Sports Office now.

Gloucester Rugby choose The Sports Office for Athlete Management

The Sports Office is excited to announce our latest partnership with a leading Gallagher Premiership club. Gloucester Rugby will now use The Rugby Squad, our Athlete Management System for elite rugby.

Gloucester has qualified for next season’s Heineken Champions Cup and will face French and Irish opposition in the pool stages, including Top 14 winners Toulouse.

Gloucester Rugby

The implementation of The Rugby Squad system took place last week. Andy Gorski and Stephen Young from The Sports Office client management team visited Gloucester’s training centre at Hartpury College.

They met with staff from the club’s Medical, Operations and Performance departments; including Head of Performance, Dan Tobin and Academy Performance Manager, Kevin Mannion.

During the visit, the configuration of the system’s Sports Science area to meet the club’s specific needs took place. This included the set up of player testing procedures, which will be completed by athletes through The Monitoring App.

The Sports Office’s Head of Client Services, Andy Gorski commented: “ We are delighted to be working with Gloucester Rugby and we look forward to supporting their use of The Rugby Squad.

“We’re confident the power and effectiveness of our performance management system for elite rugby will prove invaluable for Gloucester as they compete for honours in both domestic and European rugby.”

The Sports Office will provide ongoing support to Gloucester. This will be via remote sessions and client visits later this year. The 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership begins this October. Gloucester travel to Sale Sharks in the first round.

To find out more about The Sports Office’s Athlete Management Systems, contact us now.

The Sports Office boss receives prison sentence

In a shocking development, The Sports Office co-owner Andy Clarke will be sent to jail this Friday.

Clarke will be put behind bars at Leyland Police station, just a few miles from the company’s Wigan HQ. He will be forced to swap his normal business attire for prison uniform and will be incarcerated in a cell.

But it has emerged he does have hope of a quick release (very quick in fact!). If Andy Clarke is able to pay £10,000 in “bail” he will immediately go free. An urgent public appeal has now been launched to raise the money.

And, in another surprising development, it has also been made clear that all cash raised will actually go to Derian House Children’s Hospice.

This is an amazing facility in Chorley which provides vital care for terminally ill children and young people. The Hospice supports hundreds of families in the local area and across the North-West.

Andy Clarke fundraising for Derian House Children's Hospice

Andy Clarke explained: “I’m sorry to anybody who really does want to see me behind bars but this is actually part of the ‘Go to jail’ for Derian House project.

“It’s an attempt to raise some much-needed funds for this local hospice which provides such amazing support in our community.

“However, I definitely won’t be released from ‘the nick’ until the £10,000 target is reached, so I am appealing to everyone to help raise the money.”

He added:” I know people will already support many important charities but I would ask that everyone is as generous as possible for Derian House.”

If you can help “free” Andy Clarke and help Derian House Children’s Hospice at the same time, please go to this Just Giving page to make a donation.

More about ‘Go to jail’ for Derian House

When people are found guilty of “dastardly” crimes, they are banished to the cells, only to be released once they have raised over £999 in bail money.

All money raised goes directly to Derian House Children’s Hospice. They care for children and young people aged 0-26 years old with life-limiting conditions, as well as supporting their families. Derian House currently supports 350 families from across the North West as well as a further 104 through our Derian at Home community team.

This costs them £4 million per year or £10,800 per day, and they receive less than 10% through statutory funding. They rely on the generosity of the community, and events such as this, to raise the remainder.

SUCCESS

The inmates raised a grand total of over £35,000 (including Gift Aid) for Derian House Children’s Hospice. Thank you to all those that donated and continue to support this great cause.

You can read more about the important work done by Derian House here.

Client Visit: Melbourne City FC

The Sports Office’s Senior Client Managers Andy Gorski and Carl Pomfret are currently out in Australia for two weeks of client visits. Andy’s spent the last week checking in with Canberra Raiders, NRL giants. Meanwhile, Carl visited City Football Group’s A-League squad, Melbourne City FC.

Melbourne City:

A three-day visit took place last week for Melbourne City FC, Carl met with each department to go over new functionality and any queries from the staff.

Day One:

Carl gave departmental overviews of the system to superusers to show the full capabilities of the system. They discussed in detail areas which can be optimised across the club, including coaching sessions, player reviews and player progression. Carl also helped the staff to add their own terminology to drive usage across the club, with bespoke terms for their relevant areas of The Football Squad.

Academy Director, Rado Vidosic and Carl discussed in detail the extent of outputs available when using the system and what’s required in terms of input.

The custom report engine allows all users and more importantly senior management quick access to important data when required. These reports can also be set to run automatically and email users as a PDF.

Carl then met with the Sports Science department and went through the latest developments in the module, going over any queries discussed in previous webinars.

Day Two:

A broad range of departments including Coaching, Player Care, Operations and Administration met with Carl on the second day. They went through key areas of usage, various reports, scheduling for players and player development reports.

Day Three:

Carl met with Rado again to go configure development reports and assist the club in gaining the ‘sporting intelligence’ they aim to derive from The Football Squad. He also managed the coaching syllabus in line with the groups overall coaching philosophy.

In the second meeting with Sports Scientist, Ralph Napoli, they went through S&C elements of the system. This included the new Monitoring App, Fitness Testing and custom reports to relay this information.

Last week saw an implementation of The Football Squad for Western Sydney Wanderers.

For more information, contact The Sports Office now.

TSO Attend TGG LIVE: Youth Development Conference

The Sports Office Client Management team recently attended the TGG Live: Youth Development Conference at the AJ Bell Stadium, Salford.

A range of leading practitioners across coaching and youth development discussed many problems faced by coaches and around player development. Along with the methods used to tackle theses issues. 

TGG Live: Youth Development Conference

Kris Van Der Haegen, Director of Coach Education for the Belgian FA gave insight into ‘The Belgian Way’ of coaching and player development. He also explained the different ways to coach each age group across an academy.

Norwich City’s Sporting Director, Stuart Webber also discussed the success and road to promotion this season by creating a development pathway.

The Sports Office performance management systems for elite football provide excellent support for youth development, athlete management and optimising performance.

For more information, contact The Sports Office now.

The Sports Office App Enhanced​

The Sports Office App is enhancing its already extensive functionality for effective athlete management.

Our Development and Client Management teams have analysed user feedback to deliver the improvements. Watch this video to learn more about the App’s latest enhancements in these important areas:

  • Scheduling 
  • Video Tagging
  • Communications 
  • Surveys
  • Documents
  • Social Media Plug-In

 The new features will soon be available. They also include a Newsfeed of the user’s forthcoming events, reviews and videos. You can also read more in the TSO App PDF

The App is available on both iOS and Android and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play Store.

For more information on The Sports Office App, please contact your Client Manager or get in touch here.