TFC looking to data analytics platform to help with player identification

Toronto, ON August 25, 2021//: Today Toronto FC through parent company Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment and Best Athletes Ltd. announced a new partnership that brings together one of North America’s leading sports organizations with Best Athletes sports analytics platform to provide TFC better insights into player identification.
TFC has many high performance youth development programs that includes relationships with six affiliated soccer clubs throughout Ontario. Clubs receive technical and tactical direction, fitness guidance and assistance from members of the Toronto FC Academy staff. Access to the Best Athletes performance development analytics platform will provide TFC with deeper insights into the progress of players across the various affiliate clubs.
“The combination of youth affiliate programs and the Best Athletes platform will assist in providing a direct pathway to TFC for high potential athletes in Ontario who aspire to become professional players,” said Toronto FC General Manager Ali Curtis. “This program, which provides coaches and players one online performance platform to drive their professional and collegiate playing aspirations, is important and really helps athletes and their parents understand the journey in front of them.”
TFC Academy will use the platform to monitor athlete development in affiliate programs and to develop consistent and standardized performance benchmarks for player identification.
Steven Caldwell, CEO of Best Athletes and former captain of Toronto FC said “Having played soccer professionally for many years including for TFC, i know how challenging the player pathway can be. We’re really excited that TFC has chosen the Best Athletes platform to help with player identification that includes physical, cognitive, tactical and technical metrics. This is a big leap forward and highlights TFC as a leader in the emerging sports data analytics space.”
Best Athletes was created to address the gap in athlete performance development by allowing clubs, coaches and players to use data science and analytics to benchmark performance and better understand the pathway to Pro/University/College opportunities and elite team participation.
About Toronto FC
Toronto Football Club (TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO Field, located at Exhibition Place on Toronto’s shoreline west of Downtown Toronto. Toronto FC joined MLS in 2007 as an expansion team and was the first Canadian-based franchise in the league.
The first team is operated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which also operates the USL League One affiliate team Toronto FC II and most other professional sports franchises in the city, like the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL, Toronto Raptors of the NBA and the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.
Contact: Toronto FC Communications – Academy@TorontoFC.ca