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stem in sports: technology
WORDS TO
UNDERSTAND
formation
in sports,
the way a team lines
up on the field
telestrate
“draw”
on a computer
screen to diagram
something
During training camp, when a player was told,
“Coach wants to see you. And bring your play-
book,” he knew that he was being cut. The
team wanted its book back. Today, a coach
can erase the playbook from a player’s iPad
with the click of a button. Dozens of teams
now provide tablets to their players that can
be updated instantly over a network. Instead
of photocopying dozens of sheets of paper,
teams now distribute new plays or strategies
to every player at once.
In summer 2012, for example, the Wash-
ington Redskins, passed out 125 iPads to
their players, coaches, and staff members.
The system has proved to be a winner with
all concerned. “The players and coaches love
the iPads. They can roam around, go from
one meeting to another, and study the play-
book and watch game video,” Washington’s
director of information technology, Asheesh
Kinra, told BizTech.com.
It’s not just football, either. More than half
of the teams in the National Hockey League
use iPads regularly, even during games, ac-
cording to SI.com. Coaches use them during
timeouts and between periods to diagram
plays or review action with players. One app
is called iBench, which can help organize team
videos. Other apps or programs let coaches
draw on the screen to diagram new plays or
formations
.