Case study: Using key performance indicators in sport

Background

You are a sports management consultant working with a renowned men’s football team. The team is well-established and has a history of achieving impressive results in international football. However, recent performance analysis has indicated a need for new recruitment strategies to maintain their competitive edge in years to come. Your task is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) which can help identify and evaluate potential new players for their team.

Objective

Your objective is to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are most important for the success of the team, and to develop a strategy which compares athletes using these KPIs. You will need to:

• describe the steps used to determine the relevant KPIs

• list the relevant KPIs

• describe how you would obtain and analyse the data to identify top performing athletes

• describe how you report back to the team.

What do you know already, what do you need to ask the team and what do you need to learn?

Suggested Readings

Hughes et al.(2002) The use of performance indicators in performance analysis.[1]

Hughes et al. (2012) Moneyball and soccer - an analysis of the key performance indicators of elite male soccer players by position. [2]

[1]

M. D. Hughes and R. M. Bartlett, “The use of performance indicators in performance analysis,” Journal of Sports Sciences, vol. 20, no. 10, pp. 739–754, Jan. 2002, doi: 10.1080/026404102320675602.

[2]

M. Hughes, T. Caudrelier, N. James, I. Donnelly, A. Kirkbride, and C. Duschesne, “Moneyball and soccer - an analysis of the key performance indicators of elite male soccer players by position,” Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 402–412, 2012, doi: 10.4100/jhse.2012.72.06.