Pixellot’s VidSwap Becomes the Only Official Analytics Provider of NFHS

Aiming to democratize high school sports, Pixellot’s VidSwap has partnered with NFHS as the organization’s official analytics provider. The partnership expands upon Pixellot’s years of work with NFHS Network to produce high school sports video through Pixellot cameras installed at roughly half the high schools in the U.S.

 

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD FOR ALL SPORTS

This new partnership will help to democratize high school sports by making video and analytics available to more teams across a wider range of boys’ and girls’ sports – not just football and boys’ basketball teams, which historically have accessed such services. In fact, the NFHS partnership with Pixellot’s VidSwap creates an opportunity for all 12 million U.S. high school student-athletes to benefit from video capture and data analysis of their sports performances.

CREATING EQUITY

“What we love most about VidSwap is the way it brings about equity,” said Mark Koski, NFHS’ Chief Marketing Officer during a webinar for high school coaches and athletic directors. “Now all sports have an opportunity to be a part of the analytics platform. All sports are created equal. We love every sport, across the board. I’m sure that every school on this webinar believes as we do that all sports are important and all coaches and student-athletes are important, as they are our future leaders.”

Added David Shapiro, President–Pixellot North America: “Our mission at Pixellot has always been to democratize sports production, to bring video production to schools and teams that otherwise wouldn’t have their events produced. We’re successful in doing that in partnership with the NFHS Network, and the next phase is to democratize analytics and the content that’s used for recruiting.

“Baseball, softball, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, field hockey, and some of the other sports that don’t usually have the booster club support that football or basketball have should still have a quality experience, should be able to scout their opponents and work with their athletes in terms of seeing what they’re doing well or what they’re not doing well, to help them improve their performance.”

 

 

EDUCATIONAL SPORTS ANALTYICS

Democratizing sports – by broadening availability of learning tools to more athletes so that more athletes can attend college – also means meeting student-athletes where they are. “Today, we live in an age when kids are so connected digitally to their phones or iPads,” observed Kiki Enderle, Pixellot Analytics Sales Director. “The days of just verbalizing to kids where they need to be on the field are gone. When you can actually put that verbalization together with a video and show kids where they need to be, and add in a telestration, that has more meaning for them and makes for more teachable moments.”

Shapiro, who coached high school baseball for several years, explained a similar phenomenon in his sport: “If you’re working with an athlete after a game, they may have had four at-bats and saw maybe 25 pitches. Let’s say you saw them stepping out and their hands coming across their body instead of going through the ball. If that happened on two of 25 pitches, they can’t remember the feeling of that, whereas if you can show them that specific moment, they can see themselves doing what you’re describing, and that helps the learning experience.”

 

BUDGET BENEFITS FOR SCHOOLS

In addition to the ways that video and analytics help coaches and athletes improve, Pixellot’s VidSwap makes life easier for coaches and ADs by offering:

• Unlimited storage at no additional cost
• The ability to receive and exchange game breakdowns with other video platforms
• Automatic video uploads and analytics breakdowns available just four hours after a game
• Customizable plans for schools, conferences, and districts.

Democratizing also means that Pixellot’s VidSwap must be affordable to the masses of high schools, not just the elites. Therefore, the partners are offering special pricing to any new school that joins the NFHS Network, any current NFHS Network school that adds another camera, and any current NFHS Network school that extends its current partnership. Savings range from 24% for schools with a two-team package to 30% for schools with a five-team package.

The bottom line, however, is that you can’t put a price on democracy.