Source: iStock
Devon McKenney gets your attention with the opening to his pitch.
“I am a huge part of the problem with youth sports,” he says with what seems at first to be arrogance. “I’m a hell of a soccer coach, and all of you would want your kids to work with me, but you can’t afford me. I’m extremely expensive.”
But as McKenney continues, it becomes clear that his intent isn’t to brag, but rather to illustrate a problem: young athletes rely completely on private coaching to develop their skills.
“The entire athletic system is flawed. Parents are spending upwards of $10,000 a year, and sometimes more, on private training, on summer camps, on club fees, and are getting nominal results.”
McKenney, former player for the Carolina RailHawks and founder of now-defunct Goalacity.com, knows that what athletes really need to improve is measurable data for less expense than what they typically pay for private coaching. That’s why he founded AthloTech.
Watch his pitch to learn about his product, a sensor-embedded soccer ball and wearable sensors that track player and ball movement and relay data to the companion mobile app.
How Does It Work?
The technology AthloTech uses is complex, but the concept is fairly simple.
Players wear one sensor on each ankle and use the sensor-embedded ball to perform a drill or play a match. The equipment measures and records foot movement and attributes of ball movement such as speed, distance, height and spin. This data is sent to a mobile device running the app to be analyzed.
The app will automatically review a player’s performance and give them feedback on what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong and how they can improve. In team settings, the information will allow players and coaches to compare their abilities to those of their teammates and better understand the team dynamics.
McKenney has applied for patents on all of the technology and hopes to start beta testing soon. He estimates the ball, wearables and app combined will retail at $99 plus a monthly subscription fee of $7.99 to use the app, but these prices could change by the time the product is ready for market.
Burgeoning Market
The IoT market is growing dramatically, with some forecasters already predicting it will revolutionize pretty much everything, so it isn’t surprising that a number of companies have already begun producing internet-connected sports equipment.
Adidas sells a sensor-equipped soccer ball that will report metrics on kicks from a stationary starting point. Wilson has a basketball that will keep track of how many shots you make or miss, and Russell-Spalding has apparently acquired the 94Fifty basketball and training app technology of now-defunct InfoMotion Sports Technologies. For volleyball players, wearables from VERT and Swatch will measure and report jump height and the power of your hits, respectively.
How does AthloTech hope to differentiate its product? McKenney believes their app’s detailed coaching features will set it apart from other devices that merely record data and require that the user knows how to interpret it.
The company’s immediate obstacle is securing funding in order to complete product development. McKenney has been doing his due diligence in the North Carolina Triangle area, pitching at RIoT X (Regional Internet of Things) in June (as reported in this article from ExitEvent), 1 Million Cups in August and Verge in September. He is raising a seed round of $500,000, with $40,000 already committed.
Source: Devon Mckenney FB
The Future of Sports?
McKenney has heard concerns that some coaches may be set in their ways and may not want to bow to technology, and that there may be resistance to implementing sensors in regulated matches. But the growing number of “smart” sports products seems to suggest this is the direction organized sports is headed. In fact, Wilson is hard at work perfecting sensor-equipped footballs for use in NFL matches.
AthloTech has decided to focus on a soccer product initially since that is McKenney’s professional background, but there are plans to expand the technology to suit other sports if its first product is successful. McKenney mentions basketball, football and volleyball as potential opportunities.
But, as explained above, there is already big competition by corporate juggernauts in some of these sports. The big question is whether AthloTech’s products can provide what many other balls and wearables do not—insightful, actionable feedback that will instruct players exactly how to improve their performance.
If McKenney’s venture is successful, his ultimate exit strategy is to build something athletes love and then get acquired by a larger company—like Adidas, Wilson or Spalding. AthloTech could help fuel the sensor-equipped, data-driven sports revolution in the process.
Matt Hunckleristhe founder of Verge, acommunity oftech entrepreneursand investors. Learn how to grow your businessby signing up forhis newsletter here.
