Major League Soccer is taking an innovative approach to scouting. The league has partnered with ai.io, maker of the mobile phone scouting app aiScout, in an effort to discover new soccer talent on the North American continent.
Every MLS First Team club, as well as MLS Next Pro and MLS Next teams, is expected to have access to the AI-powered platform. Videos and player metrics can be quickly and easily uploaded to the app.
The app will be available at no cost, making it accessible to millions of potential players. Chris Schlosser, MLS senior vice president of emerging ventures, said the technology will be a useful tool for players hoping to gain MLS attention.
“This technology is so powerful because that’s all you need. [phone]”And all of a sudden, you can be scouted anywhere at zero cost. You can practice in your backyard or your driveway or a local park and that will allow you to get on MLS’s radar,” Schlosser said in a news release.
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Major League Soccer is taking an innovative approach to scouting. The league has partnered with ai.io, maker of the mobile phone scouting app aiScout, in an effort to discover new soccer talent on the North American continent. (Matthew Ashton/AMA/Getty Images)
The app will be able to assess a football player’s physical abilities as well as their various technical skills. Premier League clubs Chelsea and Burnley are research and development partners.
Recently retired NFL defensive lineman JJ Watt and his wife and American soccer player, Kealia Watt, own a minority stake in Burnley. The club is set to return to the Premier League next season.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Later this year, MLS and ai.io will begin a data collection process to determine ideal standards for evaluating athletes. All players are expected to have access to aiScout by early 2024.
A player can upload videos and will be evaluated in three separate categories: physical, technical and cognitive. Athletes’ physical equipment usually includes how high they can jump or how fast they can run.
Meanwhile, technical skills are more specific to what a player does on the soccer field.
“The technical thing is with the ball … what you actually do as a soccer player … passing, dribbling, shooting,” Richard Felton-Thomas, aiScout’s COO and director of sports science, told Fox News Digital.
“The player can go. [outside]a parent or a friend will hold up the phone, and they’ll just mimic the content they’re doing,” Felton-Thomas said. “That video goes to our cloud and runs all the analytics on top, comes back to the phone, and they’ll get a video back with tracking lines across the body to show how the movement happens.”
Later this year, MLS and ai.io will begin a data collection process to determine ideal standards for evaluating athletes. All players are expected to have access to aiScout by early 2024. (Matthew Ashton/AMA/Getty Images)
Athletes are expected to get three chances to upload videos in the physical, technical and academic categories before presenting their best effort. But the amount of effort they put in can change.
“They might be fine with a player taking five tests. They might want it all out of the average. Or they just want to take the best or the last test,” Felton-Thomas said.
MLS franchises often face obstacles on multiple fronts when trying to acquire talent internationally. Clubs must adhere to a number of rules and regulations depending on the country and usually a player must obtain a visa before they can officially join their team.
The new app will give teams the ability to search for talent around the world, but will likely give some preference to North American players.
“[The MLS] wanted it to be at the forefront of talent identification, and he saw very quickly that the way to do that was to make sure we could see everyone in the country simultaneously and fairly,” Felton-Thomas said, citing MLS Next Technical Director Fred Lipka, who pioneered technology that helped remove cost and cost-effectiveness barriers.
Gareth Bale of Los Angeles FC lifts the championship trophy as he celebrates with teammates during the MLS Cup Final on November 5, 2022 in Los Angeles. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
After a series of validation tests in the UK, a new version of the aiScout app was introduced in 2022.
The revised version of the app allowed for more player development-based content, which was a focus of evaluation-based content.
Click here to get the Fox News app.
The app was also part of FIFA’s innovation programme. Ultimately, each Major League Soccer team will have the ability to customize how they use the app. Although the platform is focused on technology, as it begins, one of the customizations may include some kind of human component.
Source by [Fox News]
