Ollie Pledge
Ollie spent his placement with Crystal Palace FC. The placement helped Ollie with his teamwork and communications skills in addition to the chance to work at a Premier League club.
Ollie Pledge
Tell us about your placement.
What was your role?
I worked as anAcademy Performance Analyst, predominately assisting with foundation and youth development phase (FDP & YDP). Between the ages of 9-16.
Foundation Development Phase (FDP) = U9-U12
Youth Development Phase (YDP) = U13-U16
What does a typical day or week look like?
A typical weekday consists of a variety of work on a given day, where no two days are the same. Tasks consist of:
- Pre match and post-match reports via Keynote (U13s and upwards)
- Coding of games with the use of Hudl Sportscode (U9s-U13s, with some U21s games too)
- setting up cameras and film training (with the use of either manual, BEPRO of Veo cameras)
- Uploading training to BEPRO and Hudl Platforms
- Providing a series of ‘Elite’ clips looking for best/good practice in line with the academy syllabus which changes every week. For both FDP and YDP phase.
- Assisting with training if needed
- Providing clips for players who are going to be released too
On the weekend, it mainly consists of filming the games. Where you film the games with BEPRO, manual or Veo camera and you live code the games via Hudl Sportscode. After the games are finished, we upload them to Hudl and then to BEPRO too for data analysis.
What is it like working in a Premier League football environment?
It has been a great experience, where I have developed my skills from experienced staff and analysts while gaining insight into how a multidisciplinary team operates in practice. It has also given me the opportunity to meet and build relationships with new people across the club. Last week in fact, Steve Parish (the Chairman) came into the office and we were having a chat about the Championship Playoffs!! We see some of the first team players too, in particularly Jean-Phillippe Mateta. Everyone is there to help one another, and it is a great environment to be in.
Can you walk us through a specific task or project you’ve worked on?
A common task that we undertake is U13 post-match analysis. We all take in turns to do the analysis on each given week. Firstly, we film the games on Sunday if they are at home, if they are away, we can request the footage. After footage is collected then upload the games to Hudl and BEPRO. From there, I communicate with the coaches for what they would like for analysis. From there I create my post-match report on keynote. I show goals scored, goals conceded and then clips for in and out of possession based on what the coach wants. I also show data from be pro such as player ratings and possession too. We then present it to the players every Tuesday afternoon before training.
What tools, data, or equipment do you use in your work?
We use Hudl Sportscode to code the games, we then upload them to BEPRO which creates a match report of the game too. From this we use Keynote to create pre and post-match reports with the combination of the data we collected and BEPRO too.
CaptureMast equipment with a Sony camera for manual recording. We also use BEPRO and Veo cameras which automatically track the games too. (We only use 1 camera on each game, but depending on how many games are on, we then decide which camera to use. – first choice is always veo as it is easy and quick to set up as it allows us to focus on live coding the game or help with other responsibilities).
How involved are you in training sessions, performance analysis, or matchday work?
We are definitely involved for FDP and U13s, less so for the other age groups with the MSc students having their own age groups (U14-U16) and full-time staff for U18s and U21s. We are involved a lot for matchday, especially on a Sunday where there can be up to 6 games at once!
What skills have you developed the most during your placement?
My teamwork skills have developed significantly over the past two years. Previously, I worked independently with the University of Kent Men’s Football Team (Kent FC) and Ramsgate FC, which meant I was largely operating as a one-person setup. Transitioning from that environment into a professional club with a large multidisciplinary team (MDT) was eye-opening experience in how a high-performing environment function. Where multiple of different staff members contribute across different disciplines.
My teamwork skills have been a key area of growth for me, requiring me to adapt my communication, collaboration, and integration within a wider performance staff.
What has been the most challenging part of the placement, and how have you adapted?
The biggest challenge has been managing the workload at Palace and Uni work. At the academy, something always comes up. So getting a task to do under tight time constraints and trying to balance uni work too, can be a real challenge. We have been able to manage this by distributing the workload evenly between the three of us. This has allowed us to balance the workload and then we can organise/plan at the start of the week what duties/responsibilities each of us has got to do. Organising ourselves, and using our time management skills we can plan ahead and therefore the workload doesn’t get too much for each one of us.
How has this experience shaped your career goals after graduation?
I always been lucky to know that this is what I’ve wanted to do from 15/16. So from that age it has always been what do I have to do to get to that goal? After being at Kent FC, Ramsgate FC and now Crystal Palace FC, it has reassured me that this is what I want to do. I am pleased to announce that I will be working at Crystal Palace next year as a Master’s student.
What would you say to a student considering an industry placement in sport and exercise science?
Go for it. It gives you the opportunity to learn and develop your existing skillset and you’ll have fun in the process. It gives you an understanding what a working field would look like and see day-to-day responsibilities first hand. From this, you can gather a judgement, whether this is right for you. If it is great, if not then you’ll gather invaluable experience which you can use for future practice.
A couple weeks ago, all three of us had the pleasure of going to Selhurst Park to watch the U18s Premier League Cup final against Manchester United. If finished 1-1 with Palace Winning on penalties.