VERT, a sports sensor technology company based out of Ft. Lauderdale, is pioneering a major first in the world of athletic competition this weekend. VERTcast, VERT’s sports telemetry system, is a wearable jump monitoring device, that will become the first wearable tech used in NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
The athletes wearing VERTcast will showcase jump height data in real-time on ESPN2. This data will not only supplement the story from the broadcaster’s perspective, but fans watching at home will get to see and appreciate the games being played at their highest level in a whole new light.
Mad vertical by Kelsie Payne! #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/HzwTWN4nyI
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 18, 2015
“This is a big milestone for the wearable tech space, proving that the adoption of wearable tech in the game is a growing trend and will eventually be a vital component in ensuring injury prevention and more effective fan engagement,” said Martin Matak, founder and president of VERT. It’s important to note that VERT is non-invasive and discrete. It is known in the industry as an inertial measurement unit and it is worn on an athlete’s waist band to report numerous athletic measurements, including jump count and height. The measurements VERT records are synced with VERT software, which is monitored by coaches and student athletes during use. This can be extremely helpful for coaches to know when fatigue may be setting in or who has fresh legs on any given match day.
VERTcast at #ncaa volleyball championship @AVCAVolleyball @NCAAVolleyball @espn pic.twitter.com/nu4jlZOZkJ — VERT (@vert) December 17, 2015
“We are looking forward to incorporating the data that VERT aggregates into our coverage of the NCAA championship in order to better educate the volleyball fandom on the true athleticism of these student athletes along with the incredible stamina it takes to play this beautiful game,” said Meg Aronowitz, coordinating producer at ESPN & SEC Network.
You can watch VERT in action at the championship game which will be played Dec. 19, 2015. “The University of Minnesota already uses VERT technology, and it’s an integral part of our program. It’s been a great way to monitor workload and intensity, and there’s no question it’s helped our athletes train and compete more effectively,” said Hugh McCutcheon, Head Coach at the University of Minnesota.
VERT technology can also be used in a multitude of other sports that involve jumping, such as basketball, BMX and fitness activities. So it may not be long until we start seeing VERT data on broadcasts of other major sporting events.