SSA Blog
Sport Science Agency blog providing the latest thoughts from the team and guest editors from across the marketing and sport science worlds
Dame Laura Kenny, a name synonymous with British Cycling's success, has announced her retirement this week. This decision marks the end of an era for Britain's most decorated cyclist and most successful female Olympian.
Kenny's heartfelt message thanked Team GB, British Cycling, her teammates, and her family for their unwavering support, highlighting British Cycling as her "second family" since 2010.
An Olympic and Paralympic year always brings elite sporting performance into sharp focus. In the dynamic landscape of sports science, the 2024 Paris Games are poised to highlight performance trends such as cutting-edge technology, personalised analytics, and holistic athlete well-being. The wide-scale adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning might have come too late to substantially influence outcomes in Paris, but its use will continue to revolutionise performance analysis, offering coaches and athletes unprecedented insights into strategic decision-making.
As we step into 2024, the realm of sports science continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, pushing boundaries and redefining the way athletes train, perform, and recover.
For Sport Science Agency, it has been a year of solid growth, and reflecting on the trends of 2023 provides valuable insights into the advancements that have shaped the industry, while also offering a glimpse into what lies ahead in 2024.
Sport Science Agency (SSA) is looking for a communications and content lead who can take ownership of our content marketing activities, including press and media relations. The role will include taking responsibility for social strategy, PR and content development, and ownership of social accounts across SSA and client channels. The role will report to the directors of SSA.
Like many, we were very interested to read the findings of a new study by the University of Glasgow’s Professor Willie Stewart this morning, addressing the long-term consequences of participating in contact sports.
Here at SSA, we have a strong link in this area through our work with client Marker Diagnostics, who continue to build new relationships across sport to raise awareness of their biomarker saliva test which can provide clarity to concussion and an objective and reliable route to improve player welfare in contact sports.
At last week’s excellent Training Ground Guru Live, there was a lot of talk about the critical element of "scanning" - the process where a player constantly assesses their surroundings to make informed decisions on the pitch.
In this blog, we'll delve into the fascinating intersection of sport science and data considerations in the context of scanning in football.
Cricket is a sport that demands peak physical and mental performance, often extending for hours or even days, with players needing to stay alert, focused, and energised to excel in this unique sporting environment.
Like most sports, cricket has a developed understanding of the performance benefits of caffeine, and how, when used appropriately, this powerful stimulant can significantly impact a player's game.
In this article, we'll explore how caffeine can elevate cricket performance in multiple ways.
The NFL is making waves beyond the football field, expanding its reach and partnerships into the world of skincare in unveiling My Block Skin as its official sunscreen partner in the UK and Ireland.
The Sport Science Agency has spoken before about the benefits of sunscreen to athletes, and the need for increased awareness in elite sporting environments. This collaboration marks another significant step in promoting skin protection among athletes and fans alike.
This weekend sees one of the unique races in sport, with the Singapore Grand Prix taking place on Sunday.
From Sport Science Agency’s experience of working across Formula 1 for over two years, it was undoubtedly the Marina Bay Circuit that presented the most complexities for teams and drivers when planning for success at this incredible event.
The Singapore Grand Prix is renowned for its unique challenges that push both drivers and teams to their limits . These challenges primarily revolve around factors like jet lag, G-forces, dehydration, and their impact on driver concentration.
As the world eagerly awaits the start of the Rugby World Cup 2023 in Paris this weekend, there's a growing awareness of the work taking place behind the scenes that is reshaping player brain health considerations and improving the game’s understanding of concussion.
In the midst of this innovation stands SSA client Marker Diagnostics, a leader in salivary biomarker analysis, which is transforming concussion diagnosis and player safety with their groundbreaking concussion biomarker saliva test.
In the world of sport where numbers increasingly dominate our understanding and interpretation of the action we witness, how does anyone make sense of digits and data to provide worthwhile analysis and insight?
It's an age old question of data versus insight and it’s something that is clearly close to the hearts of everyone here at Sport Science Agency.
WOMEN ARE NOT JUST SMALL MEN…
When written in capitals and bold font, it seems a fairly obvious statement to make.
But then why is so much sports science research and implementation based on this misguided assumption?
Sport Science Agency has today confirmed the appointment of Rob Meaden as its new Head of Communications and Content. The unique Nottingham-based outfit works closely with brands, broadcasters and rights holders, helping them to create and leverage their performance stories.
Sport Science Agency is delighted to have helped bring a revolutionary new performance product to market. The new Belter performance pouch is the first product of its kind to be certified by Informed Sport and it offers athletes a new way to combat fatigue and enhance performance.
We are delighted and proud to be supporting our client Marker Diagnostics as it pioneers new concussion research focusing on female rugby players. Today (May 18th 2023), they are announcing a global study based on groundbreaking biomarker research from the University of Birmingham.
New moves by the Premier League to remove betting firms as front of shirt sponsors have gained significant headlines in recent days.
Since the announcement, sports business experts have speculated about the consequences of this decision. Limiting the sponsorship options for one of the industry’s major partnership categories is likely to have a significant impact.
Sport Sciecne Agency has been working with Vodafone since 2020. During that time the partnership has produced one of the most advanced performance tracking tools in professional sports, PLAYER.Connect.
Retirement happens to every athlete in every sport. At the end of each season, Olympic cycle or due to other circumstances, countless athletes are faced with what may be the most difficult decision of their careers. And those in a position to make that decision for themselves are the lucky ones.
Preparations for France’s World Cup final appearance vs Argentina have been seemingly hit by an outbreak of illness amongst the squad. Prior to their semi-final, reports started to emerge that players were unwell. Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Rabiot missed the 2-0 victory over Morocco with the France Football Federation (FFF) confirming the reason both players were absent was due to illness.
Preparations for England’s first test in Pakistan have been hit by an outbreak of illness amongst the touring party. Talks are being held over the possibility of delaying the start of the series by a day as 14 members of the England team and staff have been affected.
Concussion and brain trauma are emotive subjects in sport. As research continues to uncover the impact of traumatic head injuries, discussions about safety and the long-term health of players will continue to grow. In the USA, as early as 1906 doctors were publishing papers highlighting the dangers of concussion linked to playing American Football. In the UK, the FIELD study and other research have begun to uncover a pattern between increased incidence of dementia in ex-footballers and heading the ball.
Concussion and brain trauma are emotive subjects in sport. As research continues to uncover the impact that traumatic head injuries have, discussions about safety and the long term health of players will only get louder. In the USA, as early as 1906 doctors were publishing papers highlighting the dangers of concussion linked to playing American Football. In the UK, ongoing research that identifies a link between heading and dementia in football has drawn major attention.
It’s been a turbulent few weeks in the UK. U-turns and diversions have been front and centre of the news agenda. It seems U-turns come at considerable cost in many walks of life. In a sporting context, turning, particularly at high speed and repeatedly come at a significant physiological cost. Fortunately, a new paper evaluating the turning demands of a Premier League team has recently been published and could help create a new understanding of this vital performance metric.
Concussion and brain trauma are emotive subjects in sport. As research continues to uncover the problems that traumatic brain injuries seem to have, discussions about safety and the long-term health of players will only intensify. In the USA, as early as 1906 doctors were publishing papers highlighting the dangers of concussion linked to playing American Football.
The London Marathon was staged for the 42nd time on Sunday 2nd October. Thousands of club and recreational runners shared the streets of the capital with a host of elite runners to complete, for many, their ultimate physical challenge.
A few weeks ago we wrote a blog that highlighted the danger of pseudoscience. That article focused on how products and activities that don't stand up to scientific rigour can harm the industry and individuals. The issue put simply, is that by offering quick fixes and false hope, people don’t engage in proven strategies to support health or performance gains and therefore miss out on benefits in either health or performance.
Retirement happens to every athlete in every sport. At the end of each season, Olympic cycle or due to other circumstances, countless athletes are faced with what may be the most difficult decision of their careers. And those in a position to make that decision for themselves are the lucky ones.
British Athlete Dina Asher-Smith has called for more research into the effect of periods on female athletes. The 2019 World 200m champion made the statement following pulling up in the European Athletics Championship final because of cramping calves. She attributed the cramps to “girls stuff” linking the incident to her menstrual cycle.
Jimmy Anderson will once again lead England’s pace attack as they take on South Africa at Lords. This is his first Test match since his 40th birthday, yet despite his advancing years, the end of his career doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon.
Sport Science Agency is thrilled to introduce Andrew Miller as the newest addition to the team, taking on the role of Communications and Content Lead. With nearly a decade of invaluable experience in strategic marketing and communications, Andrew's arrival marks a significant milestone for SSA as we navigate an exciting period of growth and expansion in 2024 and beyond.