The use of data analytics in sport is a well-documented practice. In professional sports, teams and athletes rely more and more each day on new insights to improve future performance and gain a competitive edge. A large amount of resources are used to collect and analyze as much data as possible to provide performance insights. Data analytics are commonly used in the business world, and the sports industry is catching up.
A community sport organization can use data analytics to better understand the performance of their programs, and find solutions to challenges that it faces with things like participation numbers or fundraising campaigns. According to an article from SportFin published in 2022, sport funders have said they will be 50% more likely to fund a sport organization, and be willing to put in 3 times as much funding if they can have access to the data they require in real-time. It is important for an organization to implement tools to collect and analyze data to make more informed decisions.
Collecting data doesn’t have to be a complicated process. It can be as simple as collecting participant feedback through surveys, or collecting information through registrations that can provide more insight into who is participating in an organization’s programs. Prioritizing strong data organizational skills can help a sport organization retain more participants, while also enticing new participants to join.
The Ottawa Sport Council is pleased to welcome everyone to the Ottawa Sport Summit on November 30th, where the use of data analytics in community sport will be the central theme of discussions.