The HiPSter, a digital measuring instrument used in professional soccer in combination with a dashboard to optimize the turf, has made it to the final ten candidates in the Dutch Sports Innovation Awards 2023. With the device developed by HI Sports, field managers have a compact and reliable measuring instrument the size of a lawnmower. It allows to quickly and effortlessly measure the condition of your field. The HiPSter enables measurements such as hardness, vertical deformation, shock absorption, grip, ball bounce height, ball roll, and grass length, all according to FIFA regulations.
On Thursday, Sept. 14, HI Sports can pitch the innovation to an independent jury. This will choose the three most promising innovations at the end of all presentations. At the end of this month, these will then get a shot at the grand prize with a new pitch round at the ELIS Innovation Summit 2023 at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven.
Eredivisie clubs have agreed to use HiPSter analysis equipment to monitor their grass toppings, allowing them to focus on improvement and uniformity. Thanks to Eredivisie CV and Holland Innovative collaboration, the Netherlands has pioneered this data-driven management technology for soccer pitch topping.
The HiPSter analyzes, among other things, the hardness, ball bounce, ball roll, and grip of the pitches, allowing clubs to work on the quality of their turf pitches in a targeted way. The kit can measure the field on eight quality aspects at any time of day, after which the data is automatically loaded into a dashboard.
Data-driven turf management
The collaboration between Eredivisie CV and Holland Innovative (HI Sports’ parent company) makes the Netherlands the first country in the world to support professional clubs with data-driven turf management in this way. HI expects more countries to follow soon, including the U.S. and Germany. The HiPSter measuring kit is special because it provides multiple data insights, allowing clubs to work in a focused way to improve and achieve uniformity in natural grass pitches.
The goal of data-driven turf management is to raise the level of soccer in the Netherlands. Through unambiguous agreements about what is considered good enough, the quality of playing fields will increase. This will ensure that players can perform at the top level. It will also leave more room for innovations, such as technological solutions that can help manage and maintain playing fields.
Collaboration
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