For outdoor team sports in academies, the best GPS tracking system is one that delivers reliable data, works across every sport the club runs with the same device, and is easy enough for coaches to adopt without a team of analysts. OLIVER PRO is designed for exactly that: its intuitive, AI-powered platform interprets the data for the coach to save time; it covers soccer, rugby, field hockey and indoor sports, and it is already used by more than 700 teams in over 50 countries.
In this guide, we look at what a GPS system for a multi-sport academy should offer, which metrics matter in each sport, and how the main options differ.
What should a multi-sport academy look for in a GPS system?
A club that runs several sports has different needs from a single-sport professional team: more athletes, more age groups, coaches with little time to analyze data, and very different physical demands from one sport to the next. These are the criteria that matter most:
- Multi-sport coverage: A single system should work for soccer, rugby, field hockey and other sports, with metrics adapted to each one.
- Ease of use: A coach without a data background should be able to read the results and make decisions.
- Scalability: Equipping and managing dozens of athletes across age groups should be practical.
- Day-to-day practicality: Setup should take minutes, not eat into training time, and require no fixed installations at the club.
- Long-term tracking: Each athlete's history should be stored to follow their development season after season.
Which metrics matter for outdoor team sports?
Every sport has different demands, so a multi-sport system needs more than distance and top speed. These are some of the metrics OLIVER PRO provides for the main outdoor team sports:
| Sport | Key metrics |
|---|---|
| Soccer | Distance, high-speed running, sprints, accelerations and decelerations, plus kicks and kick power with the device worn on the lower leg |
| Rugby | Impacts classified by intensity, lineout jumps and team events (scrums, lineouts, mauls and contact events) detected automatically |
| Field hockey | Accelerations, decelerations, changes of direction and high-speed running in short, repeated efforts |
Across every sport, the platform also tracks metabolic power, which estimates energy expenditure while accounting for the effort of accelerating and braking, and changes of direction, which are counted when an athlete turns more than 80° in the middle of play, not when they simply turn around while walking.
Player location: heatmaps and match analysis
In outdoor matches, position data adds a tactical layer to physical metrics:
- Heatmap: The platform shows which areas of the field each athlete played in.
- First and second half separately: The platform automatically splits each match into its two halves, so each player's performance can be compared between them.
- Rugby team events: By combining the data of the whole squad, the system detects scrums, lineouts and mauls, and shows each player's involvement.
For the most accurate player location, the recommended setup is the vest: worn on the upper back, it gets better GPS reception than the device worn on the leg.
Why is OLIVER PRO a good fit for multi-sport academies?
- AI-interpreted data: An assistant answers questions in plain language, such as "Which U16 players had the fewest sprints this week?", and the platform generates reports for every session and recommendations for each athlete based on their load history.
- Personal speed zones: On top of fixed zones, each athlete has zones based on their own top speed, so effort can be compared across ages, positions and sports.
- Volume and intensity: Each session is measured against the athlete's own history, showing how hard they worked relative to their capacity rather than a generic benchmark.
- Built to scale: The Smart Case switches every device on and off with a single button and charges them by contact, ready for the next group.
- Outdoor and indoor: The same device uses GPS on the field and, indoors, measures with its accelerometer and gyroscope, with no antennas or installations. That's why it also works for basketball, futsal, handball and volleyball.
- A team close to you: OLIVER Sports has offices in Córdoba, Argentina, and Barcelona, Spain, with support, training and device replacement across Latin America and Europe.
The right choice depends on how the academy is structured. Systems built for elite performance usually require a sports science team to get the most out of them. For most academies, what makes the difference is data that arrives already interpreted and a system that works for every sport the club runs. OLIVER PRO is designed precisely for that.
How to roll out GPS tracking in a multi-sport academy
- Start with one sport and one or two age groups, usually the oldest, where load and competition are most demanding.
- Define a few key metrics per sport, based on what each coaching staff needs to decide.
- Build your own benchmarks by sport, age and position, rather than copying values from professional teams.
- Share the data with coaches in a simple format, so it becomes part of weekly planning.
- Expand to other sports and age groups once the process is established.
Clubs and academies already using OLIVER PRO
OLIVER PRO is used by more than 700 teams in over 50 countries, from academies and semi-pro clubs to the youth systems of historic clubs, across soccer, rugby, field hockey and indoor sports. They include Club Olimpo and Argentino de Merlo in soccer, Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires in rugby, and Real Racing Club's academy in Spain.
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