Politehnica Timisoara announces that at the end of November it has succeeded in completing the project “Improving the sports performance of Politehnica Timisoara football players through GPS monitoring”, initiated by the Politehnica Timisoara Academy and supported by the Timisoara City Hall and Timisoara City Council through the Call 4/2021 Sport, non-reimbursable public funding for sports projects.

The project consisted in the purchase of a live GPS monitoring system for the athletes of the club’s U19 and U17 teams, participating in the Romanian Elite League. It was decided to purchase a system with 20 devices, produced by K-Sports Tech, from Italy. The system consists of vests, GPS monitoring devices, antennas for transmitting and receiving the signal and tablets for collecting the data provided by the system.

In parallel our club has initiated a recruitment program for the position of Junior Data Analyst, looking for a person who, on a voluntary basis to start with, will be present at the training sessions and matches of the junior teams. The technical collaborator of the project, Miodrag Todorov, physical trainer in our Academy, would provide the necessary support to the person appointed to this position. A total of 24 applications were received for the position of Junior Data Analyst, with seven applications being retained following CV review. During the month of December, the technical committee of Politehnica Timisoara Academy will conduct interviews with the selected candidates to present our expectations and to listen to the candidates’ proposals. Following this interview session, one person will be selected to fill the position of Junior Data Analyst at Politehnica Timisoara, starting on January 1, 2022.

The project was highlighted through the official website www.sspolitehnica.ro, the club’s official communication channels and with the support of local media. A video was produced to present the system, its functionalities and how it supports the work of our Academy. The presentation spot will be published on 15 December 2021 on our club’s official Facebook page and Youtube account and is being produced, along with the rest of the promotion and communication campaign, by Action Cinema.

Through the implementation of the project which consisted in the purchase of this equipment, the members of the technical staff will be able to make a more detailed analysis of the sports performance of each player, as well as to have an overview of their development. By making a detailed analysis of the performance of the players during training sessions or matches, it is possible to see where they need to improve their performance, as well as to identify the strengths of each player, which can be exploited to the benefit of the team. The benefit to the local community will be realised by increasing the quality of sporting activity and the safety of their physical integrity by avoiding injuries.
The implementation of this proposed project can be a huge opportunity to be always in contact with the parents of the athletes, who can receive reports on their progress, so that we can overcome mental barriers such as “Why doesn’t my child play more?”, meaning that coaches and technicians will be able to ensure communication and information on the measured parameters. In the full pandemic context, it is imperative to support the digitization process in all daily activities, including sports activities, and aligning Timisoara’s sports activities with European standards will put Timisoara on the map of elite clubs in international football.

The sports project was carried out with the support of Timisoara City Hall and Timisoara City Council, financed through the Timisoara City Projects Centre and was carried out between 01.10.2021 and 30.11.2021. The total value of the project was 85,000 lei, of which 75,000 was non-reimbursable funding.