A TEAM EFFORT

Many people have asked questions that were unconventional for their time, leading to new ways of thinking and, ultimately, to insights and new paths that advanced our understanding.

For those of us working at Lezama, that’s what matters most: to pose different questions about the processes we develop and to share with all our professionals the doubts and uncertainties we face in working with our players. This is our way forward.

In this progress, technology (and particularly the advancements in recent years) has given us access to vast amounts of information, previously unimaginable.

Learning a sport like football connects us with human nature and provides a rich, varied context of developmental experiences, giving us a great responsibility as a Club and as professionals to co-design and live out this day-to-day growth.

THE TECHNOLOGICAL BENCH

Years ago, the Club established a Department of High Performance staffed by professionals from diverse fields. Their goal was to understand what happens to someone when they play and interact with their teammates and opponents. They have a space to ask questions, generate hypotheses, and research various scenarios.

The High-Performance Department brings together areas such as Medical Services, Physical Training, Psychology, Nutrition, Physiology and Sports Science. Across these fields, the use of new technologies has experienced a revolution in the last 20 years, allowing for efficient data collection and practical application.

WHAT’S THIS GADGET FOR?

One prominent example is GPS technology, which measures the external load exerted by players during training and matches. This data is crucial for coaches and trainers, helping them understand and describe the physical efforts of players. Wearing a device on their back to track performance has become routine for our players, although it would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. That’s why it’s important to educate them on how technology can support their athletic development.

But GPS is not the only technology used at high-performance centers like Lezama; each department uses various resources to enhance their work. Diagnostic tools include force platforms, ultrasound machines, and integrated camera systems, all of which assess players’ functional, structural, and biomechanical aspects.

The market offers a wide range of tools, each with its own dedicated app. This creates a significant challenge for academies and clubs today: integrating data into platforms capable of receiving information from multiple sources. At our Club, we’re currently undergoing a process of change and adaptation to a sports management tool that will allow us to access all the information we have on our players in just three clicks.

INFORMATION THAT SERVES A PURPOSE

This vast amount of data from cameras, sensors, geolocators, analyzers, photocells, heart rate monitors and more needs to be understood and interpreted. Football is a complex sport where players make decisions in each situation to solve motor challenges, and these actions generate data that we study afterward, not the other way around. One short-term challenge is contextualizing and linking insights from different data sources obtained from various applications.

Moreover, technological advancements allow us to explore new pedagogical and didactic strategies, creating a context where we can connect more directly with both players and coaches. By adapting to the complexities and particular situations we encounter, our Methodology Department, in collaboration with other areas of the Club, strives to create various scenarios that foster growth, self-awareness, and critical thinking for both players and coaches.

Through the personal objectives program implemented by all our athletes, we can illustrate the role that technology plays. Using various hardware and software, we establish different channels for gathering data and for analyzing, reflecting, evaluating, and co-designing diverse learning contexts, both on and off the field.

This is made possible thanks to the contributions of the Technological Development Department, which allows us to put different ideas into practice. Understanding the complexity of human development and our own sport, we view technology as a tool to implement various measures, such as player support and engagement with their families or guardians, a critical element in personal development.

Additionally, analyzing different contexts enables us to create autonomous scenarios for young athletes, helping them understand themselves both individually and as a team. Another initiative we’re implementing is a multifaceted evaluation process (including self-assessment, external assessment, and co-evaluation). For instance, we look at the interaction and communication between players and within different relationships, as well as the connections established during the game—motor development, coordination, positioning, distances, and even the emotions that drive or hinder our individual and collective performance on the field.

Technology-based learning processes help us see learning as action, connection, and practical execution within the context of the game. These processes help us establish different points of connection, opening endless possibilities to meet the demands of our players and coaches. And we will continue to grow in this way.

And perhaps most importantly, we never lose sight of where we are and who we are: Athletic Club, with 126 years of history, a one-of-a-kind club known for its unique approach to competition and, perhaps most notably, for providing real opportunities to players from Lezama, something that, ultimately, would not be possible without technology.