Since 2014, we have been proudly working with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) to bring video and Smart sports AI technology to several college programs across the nation. Seven years and over 100 programs later, we take a moment to contemplate what has been achieved so far:
2014 – University of Georgia becomes the first college program to install PlaySight technology.
2016 – The PlayFair challenge is born, enabling players to challenge line calls made by officials or their opponents and making huge steps toward ensuring fair play in college tennis.
2018 – After successful trials our SmartScore technology, which allows for an automated and real-time stats and graphics packages, is launched at selected facilities. Shortly after it is implemented as an add on feature to any of our fixed (and later portable) solutions, taking our viewing experience to the next level.
2019 – After 3 years of successful piloting with the ITA as well as implementation in tournaments hosted at top academies around the globe, PlayFair receives ITA approval as an official video challenge replay solution.
2020 – PlaySight’s presence at close to 100 college programs of all levels as well as high-school programs and top academies in the USA and Europe, makes the platform a coach’s favorite when it comes to communication between college and prospects for the exchange of recruitment videos and player insights.
2021 – PlaySight GO is launched, allowing our sports video, broadcasting and analysis technology to operate through a lightweight and fully portable solution.
We have recently sit down with Billy Porter, Southwestern University Men’s and Women’s Head coach. Southwestern University is one of the programs which have extended their existing partnership with PlaySight.
Having hosted and streamed several college matches, Champion ships and USTA events ranging from all levels, Southwestern University is making the most out of PlaySight’s range of capabilities. “The live stream feature is something we use on a frequent basis. It’s something we use for all of our home matches and many practices. Having the ability to broadcast to family, friends, alums is something we have only received positive feedback on. It’s made our facility an even better one that is able to host ITA Regionals, Conference Championships and USTA Tournaments. It gave us the ability to host numerous D1 and D2 programs at a D3 facility as we have something that many of them don’t, ” said Porter.
Porter is also happy with the impact PlaySight has had on the ability to develop his teams. “From a coaching perspective, it’s the most valuable aspect of Playsight. Many players are visual learners and have never had the ability to see themselves play. Breaking down percentages on certain strokes, replaying specific points and being able for the players to see everything is a game changer.”
Another key benefit of PlaySight at Southwestern has been related to recruiting. “PlaySight is a huge part of our recruiting process as so few D3 teams have the luxury we do. It’s played a huge part in the expansion of our out-of-state recruiting as well as being able to attract local top Texas recruits. Every parent is intrigued by us having Playsight and it demonstrates to the entire family how invested our school is in our tennis program,” added Porter.
