Varsaty Provides an Online Platform for Video Playback, Giving Coaches Training Time Back
Very user friendly and easy to use with a plethora of ways to communicate within your soccer world. Check out this new way technology is making soccer easier for everyone by focusing on player development.
Soccer News: With the goal of making coaching easier and the focus on player development, former basketball player and coach Noam Mantel set out to create Varsaty—a free website that allows coaches to upload videos of practice sessions or matches which can then be used to create video clips to share and provide constructive criticism with individual players.
“I wanted to create a platform that not only saves coaches valuable time, but also encourages them to give player-specific instruction,” said Mantel.
So far, the site has been a hit—especially with soccer coaches and teams!
As soccer continues to grow in the United States, following the success the U.S. Women’s national team found in Canada, the attention turns towards developing the skills of youth soccer players. The focus on player development, instead of on winning matches, allows for the coaches to help these young players work on their technique and footwork—creating a lasting foundation of a skill set that the player can refer to for years to come.
Constructive feedback is significantly important to any player’s progress and development. Video footage is increasingly being used by coaches to show players what they did well during training or matches, what they can improve.
For visual learners, video playback and analysis is an excellent method to help the development process. Coaches are faced with the tradeoff of scarfing time during training sessions to have the team watch and discuss the recorded footage.
Varsaty takes away the problem posed by the tradeoff and gives time, that otherwise would have been taken out of training sessions, back. The process is simple. Recorded training sessions or matches are uploaded to the site. While watching the playback, coaches can stop and create clips to share with individual players.
For example, if the coach sees a moment in which a player missed a pass from a teammate, he simply clicks one button that creates a standard seven-second clip (the time length can be changed easily) and tags the player while including constructive comments. The player can then view the clip on his own time, as frequently as he wishes. The clip plays at normal speed the first time before playing in slow motion the second time—allowing the player to see in detail what his coach has critiqued.
SoccerToday interviewed CEO Noam Mantel to learn more about the source of inspiration for Varsaty and how this new service will change the soccer realm.
Zainab Younus: How was Varsaty created? Where did the idea come from?
Noam Mantel: I grew up playing every sport imaginable and ended up being a professional basketball player and coach. Throughout my career, I noticed that the same things happen on every team. Coaches don’t coach one team full-time, so their attention and resources are divided between multiple teams. What happens is that individual player growth naturally gets put behind pressing matters like logistics, running practices, and winning games.
Zainab Younus: How does Varsaty’s resources help with player development?
Noam Mantel: Varsaty’s currently video platform makes it really easy to cut up short clips out of game footage. Add the fact that each player has their own profile and you get a winning combination. Coaches on Varsaty have the ability to give player-specific feedback they just wouldn’t be able to fit into a team video session.
Zainab Younus: How does the process on Varsaty work?
Noam Mantel: Coaches upload match footage and watch. Once they see something comment-worthy, they press our “capture button” which will cut a short video out (Default is 7 seconds, but you can change it). They title the clip, give a description and tag relevant players. Tagging can be done by either clicking on the players’ profile photos or by mentioning them: @JohnSmith
Zainab Younus: In what aspect does Varsaty help the coach? The player? The team?
Noam Mantel: The Coach saves their time by having to go over the footage just once. It allows them to praise in public and scold in private. Keeps all team videos in one place without taking up space on their computer.
The players get a dashboard of all of their clips that they can watch whenever and as often as they’d like. They get valuable individual feedback they wouldn’t otherwise be able to get. They are also able to track their progress throughout the season.
The team gets to stop wasting time with team video sessions. Coaches on Varsaty can tag the entire team on clips for things that everyone needs to see. The team can better prepare for matches when they have other teams’ footage. When some individual progress can be made off the field, more time on the field can be allocated to working on team chemistry and scrimmaging.
Zainab Younus: Have a lot of soccer coaches begin to use your site?
Noam Mantel: Yes. Soccer is actually the #1 sport on Varsaty. Soccer teams from all over the world are enjoying the benefits and, as a company, we certainly see soccer as a top priority.
Zainab Younus: How often do people watch the videos their coach tags them in?
Noam Mantel: Naturally, that depends on how invested the player is. Some players will actually log in every day and watch the same clips numerous times to make sure they retained the information. Other players will log in, watch it once, and only log back in when new videos are available to them. Of course, some players get tagged in less clips than others due to playing time.
Zainab Younus: Beyond offering players the chance to see their performance on the field more closely, what else does Varsaty offer young soccer athletes?
Noam Mantel: They are also able to have conversations with their coaches about these clips that they’re tagged in. For instance, if I was tagged in a clip and I just read my coaches feedback, I could comment. I could ask questions, explain what I was trying to do, or simply thank them for the feedback. We see a lot of these conversations happening, mainly because you can’t have it on the field.
You see things differently from the sidelines so it’s difficult for players to have a discussion only having seen things from their angel. Writing them back gives you an opportunity to dive deeper into what the coach wants to see from you.
Zainab Younus: Are the videos solely for view between the player and the coach, or can teammates view other player’s videos?
Noam Mantel: Just the players that are tagged are able to see clips. If you’re the only player tagged, it’s just you and the coaching staff. If 3 players were tagged, it’s a group conversation. Coaches that use Varsaty often tell us that they use it for clips regarding timing of passes or crosses. Those usually involves more than one player. Try to imagine a corner kick and everyone’s positions while the ball is in the air.
To learn more about Varsaty or to sign up on this free website, visit varsaty.com.
