This book explores the application of data mining and machine learning techniques in studying the activity pattern, decision-making skills, misconducts, and actions resulting in the intervention of VAR in European soccer leagues referees. The game of soccer at the elite level is characterised by intense competitions, a high level of intensity, technical, and tactical skills coupled with a long duration of play. Referees are required to officiate the game and deliver correct and indisputable decisions throughout the duration of play. The increase in the spatial and temporal task demands of the game necessitates that the referees must respond and cope with the physiological and psychological loads inherent in the game. The referees are also required to deliver an accurate decision and uphold the rules and regulations of the game during a match. These demands and attributes make the work of referees highly complex. The increasing pace and complexity of the game resulted in the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to assist and improve the decision-making of on-field referees. Despite the integration of VAR into the current refereeing system, the performances of the referees are yet to be error-free. Machine learning coupled with data mining techniques has shown to be vital in providing insights from a large dataset which could be used to draw important inferences that can aid decision-making for diagnostics purposes and overall performance improvement. A total of 6232 matches from 5 consecutive seasons officiated across the English Premier League, Spanish LaLiga, Italian Serie A as well as the German Bundesliga was studied. It is envisioned that the findings in this book could be useful in recognising the activity pattern of top-class referees, that is non-trivial for the stakeholders in devising strategies to further enhance the performances of referees as well as empower talent identification experts with pertinent information for mapping out future high-performance referees.​

Data mining is the process of extracting hidden patterns from data, and it’s commonly used in business, bioinformatics, counter-terrorism, and, increasingly, in professional sports. First popularized in Michael Lewis’ best-selling Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game, it is has become an intrinsic part of all professional sports the world over, from baseball to cricket to soccer. While an industry has developed based on statistical analysis services for any given sport, or even for betting behavior analysis on these sports, no research-level book has considered the subject in any detail until now. Sports Data Mining brings together in one place the state of the art as it concerns an international array of sports: baseball, football, basketball, soccer, greyhound racing are all covered, and the authors (including Hsinchun Chen, one of the most esteemed and well-known experts in data mining in the world) present the latest research, developments, software available, and applications for each sport. They even examine the hidden patterns in gaming and wagering, along with the most common systems for wager analysis.

This brief highlights the application of performance analysis tools in data acquisition, and various machine learning algorithms for evaluating team performance as well as talent identification in beach soccer and sepak takraw. Numerous performance indicators and human performance parameters are considered based on their relevance to each sport. The findings presented here demonstrate that the key performance indicators as well as human performance parameters can be used in the future evaluation of team performance as well as talent identification in these sports. Accordingly, they offer a valuable resource for coaches, club managers, talent identification experts, performance analysts and other relevant stakeholders involved in performance assessments.

Within the domain of sport, the application of science is more apparent than ever before. Not only are universities and academic institutions scientifically investigating sport as one element of human performance, but professional teams, sporting organizations, and private training companies are embracing approaches that use scientific principles to help their athletes and teams gain a competitive edge in sporting competition. The potential for applying science to sport training and sport performance is vast. There is a demand for sport scientists who can collect and convert data into valuable information—information that drives decision making and directly influences performance outcomes. To address this growing need, the world-renowned National Strength and Conditioning Association developed the Certified Performance and Sport Scientist (CPSS) certification, along with the must-have reference for anyone in the field. NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science features contributions from 52 globally recognized experts and thought leaders from the field of sport science. It is the only resource to go beyond sport science’s foundations—physiology, biochemistry, biomechanics, nutrition, and skill acquisition—to address the use of statistics and broader fields of data science, analytics, and technology management. Readers will explore every aspect of the sport scientist’s role: understanding training theory, performing needs analyses, conducting athlete monitoring and assessment, managing data and analytics, and educating and disseminating information. The integration of these technical skills will guide sport scientists in drawing conclusions that can be used to manipulate training methods and shape competition strategies for the betterment of athletes’ health, well-being, and performance. NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science offers a holistic overview of the technical expertise, skills, and knowledge required to operate effectively as a modern-day sport scientist. Further, it will help prepare candidates for the NSCA’s CPSS certification exam and aid all sport scientists in acquiring and using the best available evidence—at the right time, in the right environment, and for the right individual—to maximize their performance.

With big data analytics comes big insights into profitability Big data is big business. But having the data and the computational power to process it isn't nearly enough to produce meaningful results. Big Data, Data Mining, and Machine Learning: Value Creation for Business Leaders and Practitioners is a complete resource for technology and marketing executives looking to cut through the hype and produce real results that hit the bottom line. Providing an engaging, thorough overview of the current state of big data analytics and the growing trend toward high performance computing architectures, the book is a detail-driven look into how big data analytics can be leveraged to foster positive change and drive efficiency. With continued exponential growth in data and ever more competitive markets, businesses must adapt quickly to gain every competitive advantage available. Big data analytics can serve as the linchpin for initiatives that drive business, but only if the underlying technology and analysis is fully understood and appreciated by engaged stakeholders. This book provides a view into the topic that executives, managers, and practitioners require, and includes: A complete overview of big data and its notable characteristics Details on high performance computing architectures for analytics, massively parallel processing (MPP), and in-memory databases Comprehensive coverage of data mining, text analytics, and machine learning algorithms A discussion of explanatory and predictive modeling, and how they can be applied to decision-making processes Big Data, Data Mining, and Machine Learning provides technology and marketing executives with the complete resource that has been notably absent from the veritable libraries of published books on the topic. Take control of your organization's big data analytics to produce real results with a resource that is comprehensive in scope and light on hyperbole.

To understand the dynamic patterns of behaviours and interactions between athletes that characterize successful performance in different sports is an important challenge for all sport practitioners. This book guides the reader in understanding how an ecological dynamics framework for use of artificial intelligence (AI) can be implemented to interpret sport performance and the design of practice contexts. By examining how AI methodologies are utilized in team games, such as football, as well as in individual sports, such as golf and climbing, this book provides a better understanding of the kinematic and physiological indicators that might better capture athletic performance by looking at the current state-of-the-art AI approaches. Artificial Intelligence in Sport Performance Analysis provides an all-encompassing perspective in an innovative approach that signals practical applications for both academics and practitioners in the fields of coaching, sports analysis, and sport science, as well as related subjects such as engineering, computer and data science, and statistics.