An Edinburgh company that makes wearable trackers and software to help football and other team-sport coaches measure training and match performance.
PlayerData builds wearable technology and software for sports teams. Its device, PlayerData EDGE, clips to a player and records speed, distance covered and positioning on the pitch. Software then turns that into information coaches can use to plan training, spot signs that a player may be overworked and review key moments from a match, including by replaying them and trying out different outcomes. It is used by football clubs from grassroots to professional level across the UK, and by rugby and other team sports. The company says it wants to bring to everyday teams the kind of data once only available to elite clubs.
The company was founded in 2017 by Roy Hotrabhvanon and Hayden Ball, who both studied informatics at the University of Edinburgh, where they began building prototypes. Hotrabhvanon is the chief executive and was himself a former international archer. He has described the aim as bridging the technology gap for amateur and elite athletes alike, and as giving clubs across team sports fine-grained data and insight to improve play, performance and injury prevention. The first version of EDGE was tried at the Homeless World Cup in Mexico in 2018.
PlayerData is based in Edinburgh, as described in a 2021 TechCrunch article and a Beauhurst list of high-growth UK wearable companies, which places it in the east of Scotland. The company said in 2021 that its platform had captured more than 10,000 team sessions across UK football and rugby and logged over 50 million metres of play. These are the company's own claims, and the figures are dated. Its customers range from local teams to professional clubs, which is an unusual breadth for a young company.
We did not find published detail on workplace culture, benefits or headcount, so we do not describe them. What the sources show is a company started by two graduate friends from a university computing course, which suggests a start-up where technical staff are close to customers and coaches, and where firmware, cloud and data work happen together. The chief technology officer, Hayden Ball, is described as an expert in firmware and cloud infrastructure.
A business like this employs hardware and firmware engineers, software and cloud developers, data scientists and sports analysts, product and design staff, customer success and coaching-support teams, and sales and marketing people who work with clubs and leagues. People who love sport and also enjoy maths, computing or electronics can combine both, and sports science graduates may find a route in through analysis and customer-facing roles.
Website: www.playerdata.co.uk
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