Israeli sports tech startup Playermaker, the foot-mounted wearable device to track performance in soccer, has signed Liverpool Football Club’s newest rising star, Harvey Elliot, as an ambassador of the brand. the company announced on Thursday.
Elliot, an English professional soccer player who plays as a winger or midfielder for Liverpool, and is widely regarded as one of the most exciting young talents in world soccer, has teamed up with Playermaker to promote the company’s innovative technology as part of a journey “to revolutionize the way athletes at all levels develop their skills, by providing data into their performance,” Playermaker said in the announcement.
Playermaker, an Israeli-founded firm with offices in London, Florida, and Tel Aviv, has created a wearable sensor that provides data, in-depth analysis and monitoring of key player performance indicators via foot-to-ball interactions for teams and for individual use. The technology transforms any shoe into a connected solution and has already been tested and proven by more than 200 of the top elite academies and teams globally.The company aims to encourage soccer players to better understand the game in order to maximize their skills an make better decisions.
At just 18-years old, Elliot says he has recognized the role technology can play in helping to develop athletes at all levels. He has been using Playermaker since his days at The Fulham Academy, a soccer training facility for up and coming players.
“My relationship with Playermaker started back in my academy days and I’ve always been a huge fan of the product and the brand,” said Elliott. “As a young player, you always want to improve and get better, and Playermaker made that tangible for me – it shows you your progress over time, laid out in the app, and it’s really motivating. Playermaker makes a huge difference to all areas of on-pitch development, as well as assisting with gaining key insights and measurements during injury rehabilitation. I am proud to become an ambassador for the brand.”
Playermaker CEO and co-founder Guy Aharon said the sports tech startup believes Elliott embodies excellence in athletics and represents the values of Playermaker.
“He is an incredible talent, passionate, and committed to his sport but also knows that to be a smart player you need to have as much data as possible at your disposal,” he said. “Playermaker aims to inspire and motivate young athletes, like Harvey, at all levels by informing, protecting, and empowering them to develop and improve their skills to become the best athletes they can be. Harvey is a pioneer in taking the smart approach to the game and we are proud to collaborate with him to help amplify his voice as an opinion leader changing the game.”
The kicker
The Playermaker device “captures player data from the source of motion, enabling and empowering athletes at any level to maximize their strengths and prevent injuries,” Guy Aharon, who co-founded the company with Yuval Odem and Moran Gad, tells NoCamels.
Playermaker’s technology uses two small smart sensors that fit into durable silicone straps – one for each foot – which are mounted onto each shoe. The technology provides real-time access to personal performance stats and metrics, such as kick velocity, left leg/right leg usage, sprint distance, top speed, and more. These insights assess performance and progress over time via a mobile application. At the end of each session with the device, the data is uploaded to the cloud and can be quickly and easily accessed through the app. Playermaker enables elite athletes and their coaches, as well as aspiring amateurs, to capture and monitor both physical and technical quantifiable data and insights as they train and play.
“Unlike other wearables on the market, the Playermaker solution is able to track technical performance and offer further-reaching insights into performance due to the position on both left and right shoe.”
Playermaker’s wearable sensor device is used by more than 200 elite soccer academies and professional teams worldwide, delivering a competitive advantage to forward-thinking players.
“Until now, data and insights on athletic performance could not be collected at the source of movement – the feet – and have thus been relegated to more readily ‘quantifiable’ metrics (ie. goals scored, shots taken, average speed, number of passes played),” Aharon explains, “We created an operating system for footwear. By collecting motion data at the foot itself, Playermaker can pair the usual surface-level metrics with complex functional factors (ie. foot placement angle for on-target shots vs missed shots, foot velocity for shots vs passes, acceleration on hard cuts vs straightaway runs, etc) allowing for exponentially more unique and astute insights for any given player.”
Aharon tells NoCamels that the success of the device has encouraged the company and they will be replicating it for the sport of basketball next.
Meanwhile, they remain a member of the FIFA Innovation Programme until September 2022.
Last May, the company was accepted to the International Federation of Association Football’s (FIFA) Innovation Programme. The company’s tech was the first wearable device selected by the FIFA program, Aharon said at the time.
“It is a recognition that a company from Tel Aviv has made a significant impact in the world of global football, enough to be the among the first to be recognized by FIFA as innovative and with a big impact on the future of the game,” he told The Times of Israel.
The innovation program, launched last year by the international governing body of association football, aims to help bring innovative products to the game by making sure that new devices meet its global standard. The program will enable firms to try out their products and change their technologies according to needs and rule requirements.
The Football Technology & Innovation team is responsible for solving existing problems in the football world by testing and implementing new technologies and innovations. In line with the FIFA Vision 2020–2023, goal 9 details FIFA’s commitment to harnessing technology to improve the game through research, development, and innovation with the aim of enhancing the football experience on and off the pitch, the FIFA website said.
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