Vodafone / PLAYER.CONNECT
TYPE / Technology, Content
DATE / FEB 2023 - ONGOING
Vodafone PLAYER.Connect is a groundbreaking athlete monitoring system designed to support the physical and mental wellbeing of elite female athletes. Developed in partnership between Vodafone and Sport Science Agency, the platform was originally launched during the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour and has since evolved to meet the specific needs of women’s sport.
SSA has worked closely with Vodafone to support the rollout of Vodafone PLAYER.Connect across both Welsh Rugby Union and Scottish Rugby women’s teams as well as Gloucester Hartpury. This next phase in the platform’s evolution introduced advanced wellness tracking features, with a particular focus on the menstrual cycle, mental health monitoring, and concussion management, areas often underrepresented in traditional athlete management systems.
THE CHALLENGE
The performance environments of elite women’s sport are evolving rapidly, but until recently, athlete monitoring tools have been designed around male physiology, routines, and metrics. Vodafone recognised a clear opportunity to lead the way in supporting female athletes more effectively, delivering a system that reflected their unique needs and unlocked smarter, more individualised performance strategies.
The brief for SSA was that Vodafone needed an adaptable digital athlete monitoring platform which would successfully integrate with partner teams, and to help shape and position the platform’s performance narrative, ensure build wider public understanding of its innovation and impact. This required both scientific credibility and communication expertise, aligning with teams, governing bodies and media to deliver insight with clarity and relevance.
PLAYER.Connect athlete monitoring platform
innovation at the core
Vodafone PLAYER.Connect has broken new ground by integrating female-specific metrics into an elite performance ecosystem. For the first time, teams are now able to track and understand fluctuations in wellbeing that align with menstrual cycles, allowing for adjustments in training load, recovery, and matchday readiness as well as the impact of concussion in recovery and return-to-play.
In addition to physical insights, the system captures psychological metrics, such as mood, energy, and sleep quality, giving performance and medical staff a more holistic understanding of each athlete’s readiness and overall wellbeing. This allows for early intervention, better support, and more tailored performance programming.
what we delivered
Vodafone PLAYER.Connect has broken new ground by integrating female-specific metrics into an elite performance ecosystem. For the first time, teams are now able to track and understand fluctuations in wellbeing that align with menstrual cycles, allowing for adjustments in training load, recovery, and matchday readiness as well as the impact of concussion in recovery and return-to-play.
In addition to physical insights, the system captures psychological metrics, such as mood, energy, and sleep quality, giving performance and medical staff a more holistic understanding of each athlete’s readiness and overall wellbeing. This allows for early intervention, better support, and more tailored performance programming.
enhancing athletics with iot
The volume and importance of data in sport has been increasing rapidly over the last few years. However, with the volume of data increasing, coaches and sport scientists need better tools to analyse and provide insight from that data. Vodafone PLAYER.Connect is designed to do just that. In the video below, Alex Skelton of Sport Science Agency joins Lucy Hedges at Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, to showcase the power of the Vodafone PLAYER.Connect platform and invite attendees to test themselves against the physical and mental performance of an elite athlete.
Outcome
The campaign achieved extensive reach and engagement across sport, technology and health sectors, positioning Vodafone as a leader in athlete innovation and inclusion.
Generated global press features showcasing how Vodafone technology can deliver performance improvements and support female athletes.
2.1 billion global audience reached through targeted media
High-profile coverage across mainstream news and specialist sport and tech outlets
Strong engagement with governing bodies and athlete welfare advocates
Vodafone PLAYER.Connect now recognised as a pioneering tool in elite women’s sport
Winner of the STA Group Women's Sports Innovation of the Year award
Perhaps most importantly, the rollout has had a direct impact on the teams involved. Performance and medical staff from WRU and SR women’s teams have reported increased awareness, improved training decisions, and greater dialogue around topics such as concussion recovery and female health, areas historically overlooked in other platforms.
As women’s sport continues to grow in professionalism, the need for performance tools that reflect the physiological, cognitive, and emotional demands of female athletes will only increase. Vodafone PLAYER.Connect offers a scalable solution, and SSA remains at the heart of its evolution, helping ensure that insight turns into action, and innovation leads to impact.