Celebrating Female Performance Sport Analysts

Part 1 - The Game Changers

In the dynamic world of performance sport analysis, where every play, every move, and every data point counts, Emily Simpson is breaking barriers and making a significant impact.

Emily is the driving force behind performance analysis for the sport teams at the University of Essex. In a field that has historically seen gender imbalances, Emily's story is testament to the power of determination and talent. Her role extends far beyond the title, and in this blog, we delve into her journey and the transformation she brings to the world of sports analysis at Essex.

Expertise in action

Her role encompasses the study of athletic performances through a blend of video recording and data-driven scrutiny. This multifaceted approach involves capturing and dissecting in-game and training sessions, identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), and making performance-related observations. These insights are then shared with the coaches and athletes, forming a crucial part of their training and game strategies. Emily's responsibilities also extend to drafting intricate player profiles, generating insightful reports, tracking performance trends, and delving into oppositional analysis and scouting.

From athlete and coach to sports analyst

Emily's journey into the world of performance analysis is rooted in her deep passion for sports. With a background in both playing and coaching cricket and netball, her interest in the world of athletics naturally evolved into a promising career path.

She pursued an undergraduate Sports Science degree from 2018-21 serving as the stepping stone for her future endeavours. Building on this strong foundation, Emily pursued a master's degree in Sports Performance Analysis, which she successfully completed in 2021-22 at the University of Chichester. During her master's studies, she seized a valuable opportunity to gain practical experience by undertaking a placement at Sussex Cricket. Here, she played a pivotal role in providing comprehensive analysis services, extending from the academy teams to the esteemed 1st XI.

As fate would have it, an exciting opportunity to further her career as a sports analyst materialised at Essex. Presenting her the ability to hone her analytical skills and expand her knowledge. Her role seamlessly integrated with various performance athlete programmes on offer at the university, contributing to the holistic approach of the multidisciplinary team that includes sports science and coaching disciplines.

Empowering Future Scholars: Bridging the Gap Between Data and Excellence

Emily's role as a performance analyst is instrumental for our student scholars. Her work provides invaluable insights and data that not only enhance the performance of our athletes but also serve as a learning resource. Through her devotion to analytics, students can observe, reflect, and replicate the strategies and techniques used by top athletes. This bridge between data-driven analysis and practical application ensures that future scholars at the University of Essex have access to the resources they need to reach their full potential in the world of sports.

Over the year that Performance Analysis has been a discipline in the performance sport programmes, we’re seeing its capabilities and importance more and more. A dedicated space for athletes and coaches to analyse performance has been built, giving important time to reflect, feedback and prepare. With the addition of this new high-tech hub located in the Sports Arena at Colchester campus, the Essex Rebels will be looking to improve their game in the run up to the Women’s British Basketball League, National Basketball League and National Volleyball League games using state-of-the-art technology. It is the only facility of its kind in the Women’s British Basketball League, with Head of Basketball Performance at Essex, Ashley Cookson adding, “For the players it is going to be a really important culture builder, in terms of on court performance and also off the court.”

Alongside Emily, the coaches will be able to fully highlight and hone their gameplans for the new squads throughout the season in a professional environment designed to improve athlete performances.

High-tech boost for record-breaking Essex Rebels from University of Essex on Vimeo.

Part 2 - An interview with Emily Simpson, Performance Analyst at the University of Essex

In a nutshell, analysts play a pivotal role in the development of athletes, using in-depth insights from performance metrics. Emily’s data-driven analysis along with the physical metrics collected by Justin Mill’s strength and conditioning sessions is a powerful combination working hand in hand.  Their interpretations are then quantifiable, determining why an athlete is performing at the level they are. A vital component in understanding how best we can enhance performance with our student-athletes.

How does your role directly impact our sport scholars?

“My work predominantly allows for a larger insight into what our athletes do both in training and game performance from an objective viewpoint. Whether through film, meaning they can watch themselves on video, reflecting on what happened and why, or providing key data points from coding and tagging KPIs. It gives the opportunity to identify and interpret the strengths and areas of improvement as a group, with all different contextual variables considered, such as what they are like against certain opposition, when home and away, we have a continuous recording of their progress across each season.”

What is your area of speciality?

“My specialised area within Performance Analysis would be the collation of data in the form of reports and profiles. Through experience it becomes clear what the expectations are from coaches and athletes, and being able to understand their needs is key to my role. Catering the feedback of this data, whether that be, for example, in a dashboard or video presentation, is pivotal to the intake and receptiveness, not everyone likes numbers and not everyone likes visuals, meaning communication is key.”

How does that translate to athlete performance?

“Athletes and coaches are always at the centre point of the work done, through regular meetings and interactions there is constant progress on what is wanted from the coaches, meaning the analysis will adapt with level of performance. This helps identify the key areas necessary to focus on for each sport, progressing as the season goes on to enhance abilities, on and off court. Research shows only 30% of events in sport are retained by players and coaches, so through the analysis completed, this brings out the best in them by evidencing happenings, allowing them to observe situations within their own game and training that can be highlighted, replicated or improved.

I think it is an important experience for the athletes to see an interaction between statistics and video evidence of their performance. From the athletes’ perspective too, learning to work with sports staff such as analysts is great for their future endeavours and will give them a step up in their career by valuing the support they can be given and how that will best enhance their abilities.”

How bright is the future of performance analysis within our sport programmes?

“Sport naturally is becoming a far more competitive place for every participant. Athletes are constantly needing to step up their game and work extremely hard to achieve what they are capable of achieving. Performance analysis is still fairly new as a standalone discipline in the world of sport, so having that at Essex is only going to be positive for the performance programmes future.”

Find out more about our performance sport programmes at Essex. For those serious about physical health, mental health and sport, the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences has outstanding reputation for both education and research. We are ranked in the top 25 for Sports Science in the Times Good University Guide 2023.

Sports scholarships and bursaries

We are committed to supporting and developing high performance athletes. Find out whether you could be eligible for a sports scholarship or bursary, plus a range of additional benefits too when you join the University of Essex.