USL News Release
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
TAMPA, Fla. - United Soccer Leagues is proud to announce a partnership with Prozone Sports, the global leaders in performance analysis. Prozone will be on hand during the February 24-28 (boys) and March 3-6 (girls), 2011 USL Super Y-League Olympic Development Program camps at IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
During the event, Prozone will analyze matches for player and team performance. Data and video analysis will be used to benchmark USL Super Y ODP player performance and further develop coaching curriculums.
Prozone works with more than 175 clients worldwide including soccer giants Manchester United and Real Madrid, as well as the United States Soccer Federation, nine Major League Soccer clubs and more than 40 colleges and universities in the U.S.
USL National Technical Director Peter Mellor will direct the camps, and was eager to utilize the Prozone system.
“I am very excited to have Prozone as a part of our 2011 ODP program,” Mellor said. “This player analysis program is a great way for players to enhance their college CV. Prozone gives coaches the ability to evaluate game play and player performance, and to use data and video as coaching tools.”
Similar to European soccer, video and data analysis has played an important role in the enhancement of player and team performance, opposition scouting and player recruitment throughout major league sports in North America.
“North American soccer is increasing in stature and competitiveness at all levels, and the value of performance analysis is advancing correspondingly,” Prozone Business Development Manager Andrew Opatkiewicz said. “USL has an impressive track record of developing players through its youth competitions, the W-League and Premier Development League, and its professional tiers. The aim of Prozone is to further enhance the resources USL has on hand to monitor and benchmark player and team performance and continue to develop college and professional athletes.”
USL and Prozone will make performance analysis of ODP camp matches available to individual players as well. Player Profiles will be created to present objective analysis on players’ technical and tactical performance during the camp. Profiles will include video and interactive graphs benchmarking player performance based on key performance indicators (passing/crossing accuracy, shots on goal, etc.) against the rest of the field.
So far, more than 120 of the players participating in the ODP camps have signed-up for Player Profile. To learn more about performance analysis at the USL ODP Camp, visit www.prozonesports.com/odp.
IMG Academies is the world’s largest and most advanced multi-sport training facility for athletic, academic and personal development. During the span of 30-plus years, the Academy’s advanced training methods have helped countless youth, adult, collegiate and professional athletes improve in sport and life by providing an energetic and inspiring atmosphere on a 400-acre campus.