Youth sports statkeeping tends to boil down into two camps these days: 1) The old-school, by-hand approach or 2) platforms that harness AI to produce reports off of uploaded game footage.
Soccer-focused Impressive Play falls in the middle.
Coaches keep stats via voice command
Speak into cell phone app through microphone (i.e. AirPods)
AI differentiates between stat-related comments and other sideline chatter
Commands are captured and compiled into stats after game ends
Stats are available within minutes and can be edited in the app if needed
“You can capture so much more data with your voice,” founder Sam Sackett said. “It overcomes some of the limitations with video.”
Sackett came to the concept based on his years of experience as a coach and club soccer parent. He found a lack of hard data can often be detrimental to coaches when it comes to managing intra-team dynamics and playing time issues with parents.
An example from Impressive Play’s website: A player may clearly be the team’s best dribbler, but they also turn the ball over 5X more than anyone else on the roster.
“It allows the coach to control the data,” said Sackett, who has a business strategy background at stops like Cardinal Health, Johnson & Johnson and JP Morgan Chase.
The platform is currently soccer-only, but Sackett hopes to expand into other sports.
An individual subscription is $17.99 a month; club team accounts start at $27.99 a month and include season-long tracking and club-wide awards. All users can get a seven-day free trial to start.
“A lot of these apps, people get really frustrated because they start missing the game,” Sackett said. “You don’t have to take your eyes off the field.”
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