This past season was the first with PlaySight technology for the basketball and volleyball programs at Acadia University, a Canadian postsecondary institution in Nova Scotia. The Axemen and Axewomen compete in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) association within Canada’s U SPORTS, the national governing body of university sport. After installing PlaySight’s connected camera and AI Smart sports technology before the season, coaches and student athletes at Acadia were able to access pro-level video and performance tools in every practice and game.
It didn’t take long for both programs at Acadia to both embrace the technology, using it to enhance their work in many areas. Axewomen basketball head coach Len Harvey, fresh off a multi-year contract extension with the program earlier this month, sat down to talk about how his team benefitted from PlaySight. 
“We often talk about how we spend the bulk of our time in practice, so we have to meaningfully impact our performance there, yet we spend a large portion of our video time on our in-game performance. Having the ability to film each practice easily, and then be able to access it and send it to our team was a huge benefit.”
What role does video play for you as a coach?
“Video is huge for us. I think coaching Gen-Y athletes, it is one of the best ways to help facilitate better communication with them and help them grow. We’re able to send them clips electronically, have them process on their own a bit, then have meaningful conversation about it afterward.”
How did PlaySight help in your practices and game preparations?
“PlaySight helped us give individual player feedback on almost a daily basis, as well as helped us to better build our offense and defense by being able to show our team what their performance was like in practice. It also really helped me as a coach, as you get a sense of your own movement around the gym, your own body language, and how the practice flows that you normally wouldn’t without the multiple camera angles and ease of access.”
We also sat down and talked to Michelle Wood, the head coach of the Axewomen volleyball team.
How did PlaySight help in your practices and game preparations?
“Video was reviewed with edits after training to asses our own team’s execution of our game plan. This was really effective. We also used it to highlight technical progressions and athlete decision making. On an individual basis, athletes benefited from having access to training video.”
What did the players enjoy about having PlaySight this season?
“We initiated the PlaySight play of the week and posted this to Instagram. Athletes looked forward to starting off our video sessions with this clip. This allowed us to highlight those that don’t always make it into the matches.”
Do you think having PlaySight gave your team an on-court advantage this season?
“Yes – it provided our athletes who are visual learners or need to see the video for feedback an opportunity to see themselves perform a skill correctly and validate their efforts/growth in training.”
