Rugby and Hockey players at Pocklington School are benefiting from sophisticated GPS tracking units designed to help them analyse and improve performance levels and fitness. Rugby players are also taking part in a nationwide research project aimed at identifying and reducing injury risk.

Both schemes reflect the Sports Department’s determination to help talented athletes fulfil their potential in a closely monitored environment where injuries are minimised as far as possible.

Since September, senior players have been wearing professional-standard GPS tracking units which measure their work-rate, speed, positioning and number of collisions during training and matches.

The objective data helps coaches structure training and plan tactics, as well as incentivising students to improve performance levels. Players themselves can access the same data via an app and have the option to share it with friends and external coaches.

Pocklington School’s Head of Athletic Coaching and Development, Jonathon Wheeler, said: “We constantly review training and performance programmes to help pupils compete safely and to improve our understanding of their performance, and we’re delighted to have been able to introduce these professional-standard GPS tracking units.

“They came fully into use this year and we’re already seeing the benefits in terms of players’ fitness and performance. We’ve used them to pinpoint areas for improvement and to ensure players aren’t over-exerted – so if a player runs 5km in Monday training, including 400m sprinting, and is then involved in a high intensity game covering lots of meters per minute and a similar sprint distance on Wednesday, we can see that player would probably benefit from resting or having a lighter session on Friday before playing again on Saturday.” 

The GPS units have been worn by 32 senior hockey and rugby players so far, across the 1st and 2nd teams, and coaches plan to expand their use across other teams.

The School is also working with researchers supported by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in a data study to better understand the demands of Rugby at schools' level, to work out injury risks and the best way to prevent them occurring in the future.

Researchers at Bath University are gathering data on injuries and recovery time (on an anonymous basis) and comparing the data with other schools and institutions nationwide, to identify the level of injury risk and highlight areas where injuries may be prevented in the future. The School will automatically receive feedback and data about the team’s exposure to injury and the number and type of any injuries suffered.

Richard Wareham, Director of Rugby, said: “The researchers’ feedback will prove extremely useful to us in devising our coaching sessions as well as improving safety in schools nationwide. We take our responsibilities as coaches very seriously and will support in any way we can to help that research going forward.”

As part of the study, School players have added the RFU’s injury prevention warm-up to their pre-match routine. Links with elite coaches at clubs such as Yorkshire Carnegie and Leeds Beckett University, together with the School’s Strength and Conditioning (S&C) programme, have also resulted in effective training techniques which promote the fitness and health of our sportsmen and women.