The following article, written by Carrie Bigbie and copied from Dan Tudor’s Collegiate Strategies website explains how the University of Buffalo have adopted a customized solution based around Dartfish technology and the benefits that brings.
Katherine Aiken, the Director of Technology Services for Athletics at the University of Buffalo assists coaches with the Dartfish Total Solution – tailored to meet the specific needs of sixteen UB athletic programs.
Coaches decide what’s needed for their sport, then the Athletic Department Tech Team experts led by Aiken, create a customized solution using Dartfish technology. How did it all start, and why did they choose Dartfish? Here’s what they’ve implemented at the University at Buffalo:
Individual lockers on Dartfish.tv provide private access for viewing, commenting, and analyzing for coaches and athletes.
The University at Buffalo uses several Dartfish.tv Channels, one for each of their sports. Each channel is set up differently depending on who needs access. For example, does the sport want to provide public access or sport camp access, or does that sport just want internal coaching access? Or are they sharing recruit videos between coaching staff that are currently traveling? As the administrator for these channels, Aiken is able to customize the channel to match the needs of each sport program.
“We found that by switching to Dartfish and Dartfish.tv for game preparation and scouting reports assistant coaches are more efficient in the breakdowns and are producing something to share much sooner with the athletes than they were with other systems. By uploading the scouting reports online the athletes are able to be more prepared for game scenarios in practice,” explained Aiken.
“The other time saver we have found,” Aiken added, “is when a sport is able to tag live during a game. When the game is over they upload videos immediately with each play tagged. For example, for a basketball game, by tagging just the offensive and defensive plays live we are able to quickly have a total of three videos available for the players and coaches to view. One video contains only offensive plays; the second contains just the defensive plays while the third is the entire game. With each play marked the players and coaches can view film within an hour or two of the game’s ending, allowing them to quickly find specific plays within the game. “
Technology set-up at the University of Buffalo
All programs at UB have equal access to the technology, thanks to the centralized technology budget model put in place by Athletics Director Warde Manuel soon after he arrived at the University of Buffalo.
Sports no longer have to make a choice within their budgets about whether or not to invest in technology. Aiken and her staff evaluate the technology needs of each program from a global perspective, allocating central resources considered essential for supporting the various sport programs in building winning programs while maintaining a level of fiscal responsibility. Her staff is constantly researching available technology and standardizes it throughout the Division of Athletics at UB with the goal of reliability on which the end user can depend.
“We purchase hardware and software centrally,” stated Aiken, “making it available to programs who have a justifiable need and proven desire to become accomplished in using the tools we are providing them. I was able to spread our Dartfish licenses and related hardware into the sport programs that expressed the enthusiasm to expand their coaching toolbox”.
Warde Manuel, UB Athletic DirectorAiken and the technology department provide a total solution, from computers to cables, firewire cards, to portable hard drives making sure everything is compatible and working smoothly together. This past summer the Athletics Director Warde Manuel (pictured) modified one of their practice facilities to include everything a team would need to record and review practices courtside.
“All the sport has to bring to practice is their camera and a laptop because everything else is already in place, providing the ability to capture and then project the footage via Dartfish InTheAction onto a courtside flatscreen TV,” says Aiken. “This forwardthinking investment is currently utilized by three separate programs.”
Katherine Aiken set a goal for all UB sports to develop an efficient way for both the athlete and coach to use technology effectively and Dartfish has helped her to achieve it.
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