Loughborough University helps students turn passion for sport into rewarding careers using data skills

How Tableau helps

Tableau Academic Programs provides free resources to teach job-ready data skills 

Loughborough University chose to teach Tableau as part of a dedicated module on Applied Sports Analytics and Visualisation within the MSc degree. The ease of working with Tableau to drill down into data and quickly generate insights influenced this decision. Free access to software and resources through Tableau Academic Programs also made the platform appealing and proved valuable in designing the course. 

Hands-on learning and community resources help students put skills into practice

Loughborough University’s MSc in Applied Sport Performance Analysis combines study with a placement in an elite sporting environment where students can develop and test their skills.

The ten-week Applied Sports Analytics and Visualisation module prepares students to help their placement stakeholders tackle specific performance questions. Through hands-on labs, they learn to clean, prepare, analyse, and visualise data using Tableau Prep and Tableau Desktop. With insights and practical advice from experts and guest speakers, they learn the art of data storytelling and how to present findings and recommendations.

Tom Goodall, Co-Founder Touchline Analytics, provides outside expertise and runs Tableau workshops as part of the MSc. Goodall shared that data analysis has become increasingly important in elite level sport, with the top teams using objective information to make better informed decisions, with regards to both performance and recruitment.

"The power of Tableau means that these organisations are able to manipulate, analyse and deliver this information, in ways that allow key stakeholders to affect behaviours on and off the pitch,” said Goodall.

Tableau Public as well as videos and other content from the Tableau Community help students build on their data skills and solve specific problems. Beneficial resources leveraged in the past have included the Hawaii User Group session on Becoming Better Storytellers with Data and content from Tableau experts Andy Kriebel and Rob Carroll.

Next generation of performance analysts poised for success

Current and past participants from the MSc in Applied Sport Performance Analysis are now at the top of their game, having gained a wealth of applied skills and experience working within elite sporting organisations.

Amy Peacham is one of those students. While previously studying sports science, Peacham became interested in performance analysis. The MSc degree and placement as a Loughborough Lightning Netball performance analyst has deepened her enthusiasm and focused her interest in sports analytics. The degree has also turned Peacham into a fan of Tableau and she’s now using it at Loughborough Lightning Netball to analyse previously untapped data.

“I knew data was used alongside video for performance analysis, but the degree opened my eyes to how significant data analytics has become and how many career opportunities there are in this space,” said Peacham.

Joe Sheehan, another student on the MSc, is completing his placement as a performance analyst at a Premier League football club.  A lifelong fan of football, Joe joined the course after studying maths and sports science as an undergraduate. His placement with the football club—an existing user of Tableau— helped him build skills which he sees as increasingly vital in competitive sports.

“Every match generates around 1,500 rows of data from on the ball events alone. As sports become more data-driven, teams need people with data skills that can break that down and make it useful for coaches and other decision makers whose expertise lies in sports rather than data analytics,” said Sheehan.

Fellow student Alex Brewer is similarly enthusiastic about data analytics and the impact of making data simple and engaging for coaches and athletes. Prior to signing up for the MSc, Brewer secured a placement at his local rugby club. He secured the opportunity with the help of analysis completed using pen and paper.

Now, he has a placement as a performance analyst with Loughborough Lightning Rugby where he produces a number of interactive visualisations to inform strategy, training, and recruitment. Some of these dashboards include links to video footage within HUDL, helping the teams make the connection between the numbers and what’s happening on the pitch.