When SportsBoard launched its revolutionary iPad- and cloud-based player assessment solution 15 months ago, it didn’t really think about how its customers would split across collegiate men’s and women’s sports programs.
But the data is interesting….. women’s sports programs account for nearly 70% of SportsBoard’s 160 NCAA clients, so the gap is real. This tendency was underscored last month when University of North Carolina Women’s Lacrosse was joined by the UNC’s Women’s Soccer and Women’s Basketball programs as SportsBoard customers.
These programs are all elite in their own rank: Lacrosse just won its first national championship, Soccer won its 22nd championship last fall, and Basketball has captured eight ACC tournament titles and a national championship in 1994. All have turned to SportsBoard for streamlining their recruiting operations and measuring and tracking player performance.
“I have never been a technology person, but the business side of me knows that this is the wave of the future,” said UNC Women’s Basketball Coach Sylvia Hatchell, a three-time national coach of the year who will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in September. “I am never too old to learn, and I am wise enough to know that we have to keep up with the latest technology to remain competitive.”
Soccer Coach Anson Dorrance, known for his analytical approach to the sport, has seemingly always been a step ahead of his competitors, on the field and off. So it makes sense that a coach with his pedigree of success wouldn’t want to fall behind technologically.
“This is the future,“ Dorrance said. “SportsBoard’s revolutionary app will help us become more efficient in recruiting future Tar Heels and keeping us in a good position to win, every year.”
Jenny Levy, the sixth-winningest coach in NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse history, became the first North Carolina coach to go paperless when she began using SportsBoard’s breakthrough mobile technology last year at recruiting events.
“Ultimately what most college coaches are looking for is a way to recruit more efficiently and effectively,” Levy said. “SportsBoard allows coaches to be more thorough and more efficient with their time.”
“When we started with Coach Levy, I knew we were on to something at Carolina,” stated Gregg Jacobs, Founder of SportsBoard. “I could just tell from the way in which she spoke about the importance of data that she would be a great customer and that others at Carolina would follow her lead. It’s starting to happen, and we are thrilled about it!”
