Bemidji — Many years ago, the women’s soccer team in Bemidji province measured player usage based on the number of minutes a player recorded. But that strategy is evolving, as is the technology at their disposal.
Assistant coach Mike Corman said, “Anything that helps us give someone a slight edge, if it’s a GPS unit, we’ll do it.”
At every practice and every game, Bieber wears a vest with a GPS tracking chip. Then monitor all your sessions, from total distance to hard runs to top speed.
Madeline Harsken / Bemidji Pioneer
This system, called Sports Performance Tracking, helps BSU understand the workload of each position player. The team takes the data and implements it in training.
“It’s really nice to be able to see how far you’ve run in the game and how fast you’ve run,” said senior Halle Peterson. “I can see my speed, my distance. I can see where I spend the most time on the field.
“They help determine where everyone’s legs are for the week,” says senior midfielder Maggie Cade. Just by doing that, I spend a little less time participating in practice.”
Madeline Harsken / Bemidji Pioneer
Shutting down an otherwise healthy player for a practice or two is perhaps a bit unorthodox, but longevity is the goal. According to Corman, the results speak for themselves.
Korman, who joined the staff in 2019 and conducted the SPT in 2021, said: Thinking about 2019-2021, it looked fresh as it went on.”
Players can access their personal data on apps and computers. You can also see the team’s top performers in each category.
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Korman says coaches can spend hours processing all of their team’s data, but the tools at their disposal are game-changing tools.
“I think it’s been great. …and we’re still learning every day,” Corman said. “We try not to kill them on weekdays, so their feet are fresh when a match comes. It helps.”
Heading into the season opener, the No. 9 Beavers will challenge South Dakota for their annual strong program. Jackrabbits hasn’t lost a single season since his 2012. Including last season, he has appeared in four Division I NCAA Tournaments in that period.
“They’re going to be a very good team to play on,” Cade said. “It helps us understand where we are. Obviously, it’s early in the season, so we know we can improve, but it will give us a good perspective of where we can get there.”
Maika Freeze / Bemidji Pioneer
Bemidji State has had some recent successes in Division I competition. BSU beat North Dakota 2-0 in his season opener last year, and in 2018 he lost 1-0. The Beavers’ last DI loss was none other than SDSU, where he lost 3-1 in 2014.
This year’s season opener kicks off at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, August 28 at SD Bemidji State University Brookings, before starting NSIC in Northern Michigan (September 2) and Michigan Tech (September 4). A loading game with is played. Games until September 9th.
The Beavers believe such a non-conference slate, especially Division I adversaries, can prepare them for a highly competitive Northern Sun.
“I think it’s exciting,” Peterson said. “Playing against a team like SDSU is like playing against a lot of teams in a conference. Most of our conferences are equally good and I think we can play at that level this year. It’s a good way to get off to a good start and see where we are.”
Gillian Gandhi / Bemidji Pioneer
