Podcast Episode 4 | Grant Downie OBE
Grant Downie OBE is currently a consultant in medical & performance solutions in elite sport. Grant’s been working in the industry since 1984, and has been at the heart of professional football & elite sport ever since; including key roles at the FA, Rangers, Middlesbrough, and the Manchester City academy. He’s also held advisory roles at the Scottish FA, leading on their COVID RTP, to the premier league and even Cirque du Soleil.
Other Episodes:
Episode 1 | Shayne Murphy – https://kairostech.io/podcast-shayne-murphy/
Episode 2 | Ben Gollings – https://kairostech.io/podcast-ben-gollings/
Episode 3 | Erin Nayler – https://kairostech.io/podcast-erin-nayler/
Check out all our other episodes on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3EnOeNw1kJU2Mqcipxdz8Q
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
Kairos and the IFA partnership
Kairos are delighted to announce a partnership with the IFA Women’s youth teams. This partnership means that the entire women’s pathway from junior age teams right up to the elite senior team will benefit from using the Kairos platform.
What is Kairos?
Kairos is an online platform that provides the tools to ensure all matches, group, and 1-2-1 sessions, appointments, and any other scheduled activity is centralised in one easy to access place. Team communications are timely and relevant to each staff member while ensuring players are more engaged and empowered to manage their individual schedules. For the youth teams, critically, Kairos allows a centralised place for all communication with guardians and allows oversight of all activity.
Head of Elite Performance Alfie Wylie says; ‘We’re delighted to be using Kairos from a scheduling and communication standpoint. It will help us define a culture of communication, clarity, and accountability moving forward. Kairos not only saves us time across the different departments but is much more effective for our players with all information being in one place. Furthermore, it brings a standard of professionalism and helps execute our safeguarding responsibilities with the younger age groups.’”
Andrew Trimble, Kairos CEO and co-founder, “We’re really pleased to extend our relationship with the IFA, bringing the Women’s academy teams and regional centres on to Kairos. These squads will be utilising Kairos to streamline scheduling and communication throughout the whole program”.
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
Planning Excellence webinar
Speakers
Joe Schmidt
Director of Rugby and High Performance @World Rugby
New Zealand born Joe Schmidt is best known as Head Coach of the Ireland men’s national rugby team from 2016 – 2019. As Ireland’s most successful Head Coach ever, he won three Six Nations’, a Grand Slam, and the team were ranked 1 in the World Rugby Rankings for the first time. Schmidt was appointed World Rugby’s Director of Rugby and High Performance in October 2020, where he has responsibility for issues related to player welfare, training and education.
Des Ryan
Head of Academy Sports Medicine and Athletic Development @Arsenal F.C.
Des Ryan joined Arsenal in 2013 as the Head of Sports Medicine and Athletic Development at the Academy. Before joining the Gunners, Ryan had a successful career in rugby: he worked for the IRFU as an S&C coach and fitness education manager. Previously, he was Head of S&C at Connacht Rugby for almost a decade. Ryan has also completed a Masters in S&C and is a tutor at World Rugby and the IRFU, which allowed him to be a lecturer in conferences around the world.
Matt Willmott
Head of Fitness & Conditioning Coach @MK Dons F.C.
In 2018 Matt Willmott joined Milton Keynes Dons F.C. as Head of Fitness & Conditioning Coach, where he had previously been a Sports Medicine Intern and the club’s first Academy Lead Sports Scientist. At the end of the 2015-2016 season, Willmott became Lead Youth Development Sports Scientist at Leicester City F.C., right before the team won the Premier League for the very first time. Besides, he completed an MSc in Sports Therapy and is also an accredited S&C coach.
Chris Rush
Former Head of Athletic Performance @Blackburn Rovers F.C.
After 15 years of full-time working in professional football with English clubs such as Preston North End, Middlesbrough or Manchester City, Chris Rush announced earlier this year his decision to resign from his position as Blackburn Rover’s Head of Athletic Performance. After happily working with the club for almost a decade, Rush realised that it was time to prioritise family life over professional life and to try new and different things from football.
Shayne Murphy
Football Scientist Consultant
Football scientist founder of SDM Performance Shayne Murphy will be helping Scotland Men’s National Football Team prepare for this summer’s UEFA Euro 2020. In June this year, the Scottish team will be playing a major tournament for the first time in twenty years. Besides, Murphy has more than 11 years of experience in the English football league with elite players at Manchester City F.C., Liverpool F.C., Blackburn Rovers F.C., and Cardiff City F.C.
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
Kairos and Cambridge United Academy partnership
Kairos have an existing partnership with Cambridge United, helping their first team staff and players manage their scheduling and communications. We are now delighted to announce that that partnership has been extended to include the youth academy as well. Every staff member that is involved with on-field performance and players at every level at the club will now benefit from the centralised planning platform.
The Cambridge United senior men’s team currently play in EFL League 2 and are currently pushing to secure, a previously unexpected, promotion to EFL League 1. It’s that same ambition that has brought them to bring the platform club-wide as they seek to build a culture of excellence from the academy right through to the senior team.
What is Kairos?
Kairos is an online platform that provides the tools to ensure all matches, group, and 1-2-1 sessions, appointments, and any other scheduled activity is centralised in one easy to access place. Team communications are timely and relevant to each staff member while ensuring players are more engaged and empowered to manage their individual schedules. For the academy, critically, Kairos allows a centralised place for all communication with guardians and allows oversight of all activity. The platform also supports the U’s safeguarding responsibilities, allowing them peace of mind that all data is traceable and easy to access.
Head of Academy Operations and Safeguarding Kit Brunswick says; “Having the Kairos platform has been a real game-changer for us at an academy level. It makes us more efficient at every stage of our operational process and makes life easier for everyone involved. It gives clarity to parents, players and staff and the Kairos team have been brilliant with onboarding and support at every stage.”
Andrew Trimble, Kairos CEO and co-founder, “We’re delighted to see our partnership with Cambridge United grow. We’ve loved seeing the first team do so well this season, and it’s been amazing to know we’ve been a part of that. It’s now a real validation of the benefit they see in the platform that they have taken the move to roll out the product to the academy. We’re looking forward to cheering on their success as well now”
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
Podcast Episode 3 | Erin Nayler
Erin currently plays for Reading in the WSL, but she has had a truly international journey to get there. Starting her career back in her native New Zealand, she has since played in the NWSL in the USA and spent four years in France playing for clubs like Bordeaux and Grenoble before making the move to England. Erin’s also represented the New Zealand national team 61 times including World Cups and the Olympic Games. In January of this year, Erin was named in the IFFHS OFC Women’s Team of the Decade for 2011–2020.
Other Episodes:
Episode 1 | Shayne Murphy – https://kairostech.io/podcast-shayne-murphy/
Episode 2 | Ben Gollings – https://kairostech.io/podcast-ben-gollings/
Check out all our other episodes on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3EnOeNw1kJU2Mqcipxdz8Q
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
Safeguarding best practice in elite sports
Safeguarding in football has recently been thrust back into the spotlight following the findings of the Sheldon report, published on 17th March 2021. Although the report suggested “mistakes were still made”, football as a sport has come a fair way since the launch of the FA’s child protection policy in May 2000. Safeguarding frameworks are now in place and these frameworks are reviewed annually to ensure maintenance and compliance to the safeguarding standard.
From grassroots to the Premier League, all clubs must have a Club Safeguarding Policy and a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO), with all those involved having to undertake a criminal records check and required safeguarding training. There is leadership across the game, with safeguarding children a regular item on every board agenda and a collaborative approach amongst sports to facilitate learning and good practice. Safer recruitment, the role of the DSO, education and training, reporting of concerns, research and insight, and monitoring are all key components to ensure the successful implementation of football’s safeguarding framework.
Monitoring, in particular, continues to evolve, with technology used to oversee the implementation of safeguarding principles. The FA requires all clubs with youth teams to maintain up-to-date records of checks and training however, monitoring communications between staff and youth team players can pose a real challenge. With the ever-increasing prevalence of digital forms of communication, pressure is growing on clubs to ensure they provide the right tools and directives to help prevent the potential for misuse of platforms. As such, a platform that enables clubs to monitor communications between players and staff, in addition to granting access to schedules and communications to guardians of those of a particular age has proven to be valuable and highly desirable.
Having worked with youth teams and many of the top practitioners in youth sport, Kairos has built a robust, effective, and efficient platform to help elite sports teams not only deliver on the communication requirements of elite youth teams but also in helping staff save significant time with the planning and preparation needed week-to-week. Focused on empowering clubs and organisations to maximise planning efficiency and subsequently enhance matchday performance Kairos has worked with key practitioners to understand and deliver on the many nuances of elite youth football.
Enabling clear and cohesive communication between staff and players, Kairos delivers significant value for the purposes of safeguarding with its app-based platform allowing specific staff such as DSO’s to readily monitor and audit communication channels should any issues relating to safeguarding be reported. Kairos also permits parents and guardians of youth players to be communicated with directly by staff and also have complete access to their child’s schedule of events, activities, and games.
The FA’s united approach to safeguarding across the game is driven by a clear three-part strategy and having worked closely to the strategy Kairos can help clubs and DSO’s deliver on their obligations specifically by:
- Kairos Messenger, housed within the Kairos mobile app allows staff to communicate professionally and securely with parents and youth players in both a 1-2-1 and group capacity with the ability to share files as required.
- Reducing the need for much of the communication that is required with parents and young people – Kairos’ scheduling functionality allows staff to plan and communicate session details with players, staff, and parents, requesting responses without the need for instant messaging or emails.
- Instant messaging requirements are further reduced through Kairos’ ability to collect information directly from players and parents through our forms functionality. Collect responses Promoting complete clarity over staff and player scheduling and communications and easy reporting of concerns via our messaging system.
- Permitting club-wide access of information for permitted users, with permissions to ensure every player, parent and staff member have the required level of access.
- Providing you with a home to store and share important safeguarding and other documentation.
The Sheldon report has shown that all of us involved in football and sport generally cannot stand still when it comes to the safeguarding of children. This is even more prevalent when we consider the implication of fast-paced changes in technology. At Kairos we are not only keeping pace we are defining this technology with a platform bespoke for elite sports teams – providing effective and robust tools to help clubs deliver on their current and continually evolving responsibilities while allowing the game to flourish.
If you would like to learn more about Kairos and whether our platform could improve your safeguarding practice, get in touch.
The Importance of Streamlined Communication in Elite Sport
Elite sports teams are complex. The success of a team will often depend on how well a collection of unique individuals with specific individual goals and targets, can form successful relationships, on and off the field. To achieve peak performance, teams must act cohesively and they must be adaptable to a constantly changing environment.
To become cohesive, a team must communicate effectively. Cluttered communication channels can cause confusion and frustration amongst both staff and athletes, which can ultimately result in individuals not maximising their preparation resulting in underperformance for them and ultimately the team. Teams that perform consistently, understand the importance of clear, relevant, and focused communication, and will continually strive to improve their communication, methods, styles, and channels.
Old-school communication methods like writing the daily schedule on a whiteboard, posting a static picture of it into a messaging group, or filling out questionnaires on paper are time-consuming and inconvenient. Not to mention ineffective and disengaging in today’s tech-centric world.
With the seemingly limitless communication apps available for mobile and laptop devices, it can be difficult to know which one will work best for your team. Messenger applications like WhatsApp and Viber can be overwhelming with cluttered group chats, full of irrelevant information. These free apps also pose a data security risk.
Digital communication and scheduling tools like Kairos have quickly become the most effective and sought-after way to streamline communication within a team environment. Even sports tech platforms like Athlete Management Systems that have added communications functionality often fall down. They tend to be an afterthought and often lack key communications functionality and are not intuitive to use.
The Importance of Streamlined Communication for Athletes
An athlete’s life is generally quite chaotic. Unlike a regular nine-to-five job, an athlete’s schedule is likely to change from one week to the next, and even day-to-day. A planned schedule can help an athlete maximize their time. Sarah Pavan, a beach volleyball Olympian, and world champion highlights how important it is to have a schedule:
“During indoor season, I love the weekly schedules and knowing what to expect for a given day of the week. Even when I am on the beach, there is something very comforting about having practice in the morning, workout in the afternoon, and the evening free. It’s in the way I’m wired; I like to prepare myself for what is to come, and having a routine takes away the surprise factor that I don’t always enjoy.”
In team sports, it should be a priority of staff to keep their athletes informed of weekly or monthly schedules, well ahead of time.
By being provided with a schedule in advance, an athlete can establish better control over their professional and personal lives. They can plan and align their nutrition, rest times, and sleep cycles around their training sessions.
Streamlined communication becomes even more important during multi-day training camps or tournaments where a team is together for an extended length of time. Athletes rely on staff during these times to provide clear communication around meetings and mealtimes, training sessions, physio timetables, and other daily activity.
In elite camp environments, athletes are often asked to provide daily data such as well-being scores and other daily measurements. It is important then, that athletes are able to communicate this information quickly and easily to staff members.
Staff members rely on this data to monitor their athletes and appropriately plan training loads and recovery sessions.
With the sports tech industry booming, a need has also arisen to streamline the communication and sharing of analytic data. Metrics captured during games or training from GPS tracking devices or heart rate monitors are important tools that players can use to track their performance and set new benchmarks.
This individualized data should be delivered promptly to players – preferably on the same day that the data is captured, or in some cases immediately after a session.
Communication channels established within a team environment are extremely important. Clear communication of daily and weekly schedules, and access to personalized performance reports, can allow players to maximize the control they have over their environment. The more control an athlete has over their environment, the more empowered they become.
Being comfortable and in control within a team environment off the field often leads to boosted confidence and improves performances on the field.
The Importance of Streamlined Communication for Team Staff
Staff members that work in high-performance environments understand the importance of communication in dealing with the pressures and demands of their job.
The off-pitch workload of staff members is often higher than that of the athletes. Not only do they need to monitor the players, but they also need to prepare, manage, and communicate schedules, protocols, documentation and game plans. To give the team the best chance of success, staff members across all disciplines need to communicate consistently.
The communication process should be established early on within a team environment and there should be clarity amongst all staff members including coaches, medical staff, analysts, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, and managers.
This is where a centralized communication platform like Kairos can be extremely valuable to staff. Kairos allows staff to interact and communicate instantly with each other. It also allows staff members to share relevant documents and use scheduling templates to save time during the planning process.
Staff members can also use Kairos to interact with their athletes in an empowering way. They can schedule calendar changes, set time slots for appointments, and share documents. Any changes made by staff on the live Kairos platform can be set up to automatically update and send alerts straight to player devices.
The planning features and adaptability of the Kairos platform are important in avoiding communication breakdowns between staff and between staff and players.
Communication breakdowns within a team environment can be detrimental to overall performance. Not only can poor communication channels cause anxiety and frustration, but they can also have a direct impact on athlete well-being and player availability.
A 2019 study by Swedish researchers analysed the effect that communication quality had on player injuries. Specifically, the study looked at the communication between medical staff and the coaches within 36 elite football teams in Europe. They found that the injury burden and incidence of severe injuries was significantly higher for teams where the quality of communication between the head coach and medical staff was low.
This highlights just how important it is for teams to establish robust internal communication pathways.
Kairos – The Streamlined Scheduling and Communication Platform for Elite Sports Teams
A centralized platform, like Kairos, is superior to outdated and messy communication channels that can waste time and cause confusion for team members. Kairos declutters communication by providing relevant and timely information to team members. The platform can help clear the minds of both athletes and staff so that they can focus on what matters – gameday
Kairos and Upton Park Ladies community partnership
Kairos are proud to announce our first Community Partnership with Greater London Women’s Football League Division 2 North team – Upton Park Ladies.
While Upton Park Ladies only came into existence in 2020, the original Upton Park FC was founded in 1866 and participated in the first ever FA cup. It was the fantastic history of this club that is something close to the hearts of the Upton Park management team and they wanted to create their own history alongside that fabulous one by forming a Ladies’ side. The club are already making an impact in the local area as an inclusive and community-based team, and are already recognised as the fastest growing women’s club in London.
UPL are also dedicated to being successful and performing to the best of their ability. To do this, they understand that effective planning is critical – at any level, and so Kairos will be supporting them through their experience and expertise in scheduling and communication. Kairos will also be sponsoring a spot on their new kit, as well as other sponsorship and partnership opportunities throughout the club.
You can support their crowdfunding campaign to create a new training facility here: bit.ly/2Nvz2TP
More about Kairos
Kairos is a planning platform that is dedicated to maximising the performance of elite sports teams around the world.
With an impressive roster of clients that includes Premier League teams, the Scottish FA, and a litany of club and international rugby sides, the Belfast-based organization specialise in planning excellence for elite teams.
With an emphasis on improving on-field performance by reducing off-field stresses, Kairos offers a centralized online platform where all matches, sessions, appointments, and any other scheduled activity is gathered in one easy-to-access location. Team communications are personalized, ensuring players are more engaged and empowered to manage their individual timetables.
Daniel Merrix, Upton Park Ladies head coach, says;
“ We are delighted to partner with Kairos during a time of expansion and growth at the club. We believe this partnership will help further embed the philosophy and culture being built in a strategic and time-effective way. Kairos’ incredible platform will contribute to the effective communication and delivery behind the scenes that will allow our athletes to concentrate on the importance of Matchday.”
Andrew Trimble, Kairos CEO and co-founder, “We’re really proud of the list of elite teams around the world that use Kairos to maximise their performance, and manage their planning. It’s always been a desire of the leadership team at Kairos to support every level of sport, including community-based teams like Upton Park Ladies. This partnership gives us the chance to support local forward-thinking and ambitious teams while allowing them to get the most out of their planning.”
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
Podcast Episode 2 | Ben Gollings
Ben’s best known as a Rugby 7s legend for England. He’s been capped 70 times, and scored an incredible, world record, 2,652 points along the way. Ben has also played 15s, playing in the English Premiership as well as Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Since retiring he’s moved across the globe to take on various coaching and ambassadorial roles in Sri Lanka, America, and Australia, as well as starting a new career in finance.
Now Ben works and lives in Queensland Australia, but also provides advice for the Singapore National Rugby Union – developing the game in south-east Asia.
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
Kairos and York United FC partnership
Toronto, ON and Belfast, Northern Ireland (February 3, 2021)
Kairos are proud to announce a new multi-year partnership with renowned Canadian Premier League team York United FC.
With an impressive roster of clients that includes Premier League teams, the Scottish FA and a litany of club and international rugby sides, the Belfast-based organization specialize in planning excellence for elite teams. York United FC is their first Canadian professional partner and the collaboration will see them provide the squad and backroom staff with an intuitive, robust, and secure way to manage all internal scheduling and communications.
With an emphasis on improving on-field performance by reducing off-field stresses, Kairos offers a centralized online platform where all matches, sessions, appointments and any other scheduled activity is gathered in one easy-to-access location. Team communications are personalized, ensuring players are more engaged and empowered to manage their individual timetable.
Further strengthening the bond, Kairos has been working alongside another York United FC partner, STATSports Technologies, since 2019.
Angus McNab, CEO/President and GM, says;
“We really want to put our athletes and staff in a position to succeed and the current operating environment means planning is a critical aspect. Kairos provides us with the tools needed to ensure we can communicate effectively in advance and react quickly and efficiently when changes are forced upon us. The nature of our league – with significant cross-country travel – means we need to maximize our time with the players and ensure everyone knows what is expected.
Kairos made so much sense for us as a partner because their development road map includes integration with GPS technology, particularly STATSports, with whom we already have a great partnership. Being able to share this information with players, and our scheduling, in a secure environment and moving away from instant messaging technology, is a great advantage for us as we seek those margin gains to drive us forward.”
Andrew Trimble, Kairos CEO and co-founder, “Partnering with York United FC is really exciting for us as they are our first professional club client in Canada and one of our first in North America. They have huge aspirations, and we’re committed to helping them develop their players and enable them to perform. Speaking to Gus, it is really clear that they want to lead the charge in how they support their athletes and as a former player myself that is great to hear.”
ABOUT KAIROS
Kairos is focused on game day preparation. They are the world’s most effective platform for simplifying scheduling, streamlining communications, and maximising player engagement in elite sports. They equip teams across the globe, including teams from the EPL, EFL, Premiership Rugby, Pro 14, MLS, and international football teams. To find out more about the platform, get in touch below.
