What is the benefit to Rugby clubs of the Kitman Labs service?
Injuries are a huge problem in pretty much every sport and rugby is certainly not even close to being an exception. Every year elite rugby clubs lose crucial player performances, not to mention immense amounts of money, due to injuries. We believe the Kitman system solves this problem as much as it currently can be, and we’re constantly working to improve it. Our platform optimises athlete health and significantly improves player availability, and that provides a competitive advantage in rugby or any other sport.
What was the inspiration for Kitman Labs?
I spent eight years working as the strength and conditioning/rehabilitation coach at Leinster Rugby in Ireland. I realised that whilst the team collected a huge amount of medical data, no one really knew what to do with it. I was inspired to explore whether that data could be used to reveal unseen insights about player health and injury risk. So I began working on my masters while continuing to work with Leinster and set out to develop the technology and research that would form the basis of Kitman Labs.
What has the precise feedback been from current consumers of the service?
We’ve received loads of positive feedback, we’re now working with clients in rugby, football, baseball and American football with the intention of expanding to pretty much every sport there is. We have seen varying degrees of success within different organisations of anything from 10-30 per cent reduction in injuries sustained. Some of our clients also have reported that we are saving their coaching staff about 30 minutes per person per day that was previously spent collecting and analysing data.
The sports technology market is extremely busy and whilst there are a lot of companies competing for the same space we offer a solution that is unrivalled by any other. Numerous companies are hosting data and centralising information in an online database but Kitman Labs brings a level of analytics and sport science knowledge that helps to deliver intelligent insights. We provide a way of making what was once just data actionable through proactive injury risk analysis, smart alerts and domain specific insights.
What should people expect when working with the staff at Kitman Labs?
We pride ourselves on being not just a tech company but also a sport science company. A large percentage of our workforce is made up of sport scientists and their research is imbued within every aspect of the platform. When we begin a relationship with a team, we provide them with a team behind their team. We are constantly analysing their data to find new meaningful trends and help them to better manage their team, keep their athletes healthier and keep them winning games.
