Sounders FC today announced details surrounding its Soccer Analytics Conference presented by Zulily, an event set aside to discuss one of the biggest growing trends in sports over recent years: data analytics. The seminar series, taking place over three consecutive Wednesdays in May, will provide registrants with the unique opportunity to hear from a wide variety of leaders in analytics from across the globe. The goal of the conference is to examine how soccer clubs can successfully integrate analytics into a decision-making workflow, including discussing the limitations of analytics today and how to best bridge the gap. A data analytics competition is also being offered for students and amateur analytics enthusiasts.
Given the current best practices in combatting COVID-19, the Soccer Analytics Conference is being held virtually in 2020, with all registration fees being donated to support the Seattle Sounders FC Relief Fund, which supports individuals, nonprofits and small businesses in the neighborhoods surrounding CenturyLink Field.
The event kicks off next Wednesday, May 6, and continues Wednesday, May 13 and Wednesday, May 20, running from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT each session.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer our Soccer Analytics Conference to a wider audience in a virtual format this year,” said Sounders FC General Manager & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey. “This is a subject that is only growing and becoming more and more important in soccer – and all sports – and our club’s Director of Soccer Analytics, Ravi Ramineni, has done an excellent job securing a great group of speakers that I think will be able to provide all participants with a lot of unique insight and education.”
In addition to hearing from speakers in each session, Sounders FC is also offering a new data analytics competition this year. The contest is open to all current full-time students or any analytics enthusiasts that are not employed professionally in the field, with groups of up to two participants maximum. Judging the competition will be: Olly Downs, VP Data & Machine Learning, Zulily; Chris Anderson, Professor in Politics and Policy, London School of Economics; and Sam Gregory, Data Analyst, Sportlogiq. More information regarding the competition rules and eligibility can be found at SoundersFC.com/SoccerAnalytics. The deadline for submission is May 10 at 10:00 p.m. PT.
Each conference session will consist of a keynote speaker, followed by presentations from practitioners and a roundtable of experts. In later sessions, the analytics competition judges will also discuss the top entries and announce the competition winner.
This year, headline presenters include the following leaders in their fields:
- Gregg Berhalter, U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team Head Coach
- John Burn-Murdoch, Financial Times, London, Senior Data Visualization Journalist
- Bruno Dagnino, Metrica Sports CTO
- Marcel Daum, Bayer Leverkusen Assistant Coach – Analytics
- Francisco Javier Garcia Cabrera, former goalkeeper coach, Arsenal, Sevilla, PSG, Swansea and RCD Espanyol
- Sudarshan Gopaladesikan, SL Benfica Head of Sports Data Science
- Joe Mulberry, Right to Dream and FC Nordsjaelland Director of Recruitment
- Gonzalo Pineda, Sounders FC Assistant Coach
- Ravi Ramineni, Sounders FC Director of Soccer Analytics
- Tom Worville, The Athletic Football Analytics Journalist
Additionally, special guests joining these speakers for the roundtable portions of the event include London School of Economics Professor in Politics and Policy Chris Anderson, former NBA executive and current owner of Cleaning the Glass Ben Falk, OL Reign Midfielder Jess Fishlock, Co-Founder and CEO of Statsbomb Ted Knutson, Sounders FC General Manager & President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey and Sounders FC Academy Director Gary Lewis. Each session will be hosted by a moderator, including ESPN Senior Writer Gabriele Marcotti, Arsenal FC Vice President of Software and Analytics Sarah Rudd and New York Times Chief Soccer Correspondent Rory Smith.
Those interested in viewing the full event schedule, learning more or registering for the 2020 Sounders FC Soccer Analytics Conference presented by Zulily may do so via SoundersFC.com/SoccerAnalytics.
