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El Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, escenario de lujo para los cursos formativos propios y de LaLiga
The Sevilla FC Chair participates in the awards of the 15th UpoEmprende Contest.
On the morning of Friday, June 23, the XV UpoEmprende Contest event took place at Pablo de Olavide University, as usual, with the collaboration of the Sevilla FC Academic Chair through its Innovation Center. In a space that promotes an entrepreneurial spirit and supports business ideas generated from the university environment, awards were presented after the presentation of the 20 finalist projects, out of a total of 63 projects submitted and 214 participants.
As for the Honorable Mentions, courtesy of the Sevilla FC Academic Chair: University, Business, and Sports, in this edition of the UPOemprende Contest, two ‘Never Give Up’ awards have been granted, each with an economic prize of 400 euros. These Honorable Mentions have been awarded to the Impulsa project, a company responsible for creating virtual reality applications to enhance executive functions and improve the prefrontal lobe, and to 4EyesArenal, a digital platform for educational institutions that enables students, teachers, and administrative staff to efficiently record and resolve incidents in the school’s facilities and workshops.
The “Tesis” program on Canal Sur TV focuses on the Sevilla FC Academic Chair at Pablo de Olavide University
The Sevilla FC Innovation Center continues to capture the attention of both insiders and outsiders. The platform where the entire innovation proposal that the club offers to the world of sports converges has been featured in the latest edition of the prestigious ‘Tesis’ program on Canal Sur TV. The television program, focused on the dissemination of the work carried out in all the universities of Andalusia, delved into the promotion and development of R&D&I projects carried out at Sevilla FC., which is the only club that has a chair at a university
It is the ‘Sevilla FC: University, Business, and Sports’ Chair, based at Pablo de Olavide University. This chair is primarily focused on the sports field – sports sciences. The goal is to develop an integrated system of research, training, analysis, information, and dissemination activities in areas related to the university, business, and sports domains. Through this chair, Sevilla FC manages to identify and foster talent, as well as contribute to employability, with over a dozen UPO students joining the club in some of its key departments.
In this latest edition of ‘Tesis’, José María Cruz Gallardo, Head of R&D&I at Sevilla FC, explains the club’s commitment as follows: “Student training starts at the university, but at Sevilla FC what we aim to do is contribute, in each training modality, our bit of knowledge so that this training is as closely aligned as possible with the realities of the market, and specifically, with the unique realities of Sevilla FC. We can provide students with a stable and reliable professional environment in which they can grow and apply the education they receive from the university”.
Meanwhile, Laura López de la Cruz, Vice Chancellor of UPO, summarizes the importance of this initiative in the program: “The Sevilla FC Chair serves a key role, which is to merge the knowledge generated in the university with its practical application in the business and society. It promotes the creation of businesses and sports, and thanks to an organization as significant as Sevilla FC, we achieve greater visibility and reach more people”.
Sevilla FC showcases its technological muscle at the ‘Football Forum’ in Budapest
Budapest is not only the capital of Hungary but during this week it is also the capital of European football with the celebration of the UEFA Europa League final between Sevilla FC and AS Roma. The Club is present in the city of the Danube not only for its sporting merits, but also for being a reference in technological development in football. Not in vain, it was invited prior to the semi-finals for the ‘Football Forum Hungary 2023’, which was held at the Groupama Arena in Budapest on Tuesday and which dealt with all the current issues in professional football, serving as a meeting point for the exchange of information and knowledge.
Sevilla FC’s presence at the congress was by no means testimonial, but rather played a leading role with two presentations given by Juan Esteban Gómez Llamas, head of digitalisation in the Football R&D&I Department. In the first of these, he explained the Club’s commitment to innovation through its Innovation Center. Specifically, he focused on the use of data for player recruitment and talent development, with tools such as ‘AiFootball’, developed exclusively by Sevilla FC.
In addition, Juan Esteban Gómez participated in a second presentation, together with the delegate and head of business development of LaLiga in Hungary, Jesús Pizarro Bravo, focused on technological development in general. An aspect in which Sevilla FC has been an international reference for several years now. In addition to delving into the origin of this strategic commitment of the Entity, the presentation showed as an example the creation of ‘Transfer Tracker’. A tool devised by Sevilla FC, aimed at optimising economic income from training rights (FIFA’s solidarity mechanism) and which has been marketed internationally through LaLiga Tech. An unprecedented milestone at club level.
The youth academy meeting concludes with the presentation of the pioneering technological model of Sevilla FC.
Sevilla FC participates in the workshop for the co-construction of the ‘OlavideDual’ model.
Sevilla FC was present at the I Workshop ‘Building the Olavide Dual Model.’ Specifically, the Head of the R&D department of the club, José María Cruz Gallardo, was responsible for representing the Nervión club in a project with the main goal of generating shared knowledge among the entities involved in the learning ecosystem in the Dual Teaching Model for the construction of a valid and successful model. Dual university education combines theoretical and practical training. It is worth noting that this is materialized through a collaboration agreement between the University and the Company, where the student alternates between classroom training and work in the business entity, acquiring skills and knowledge to enhance employability.
Inaugurated by Francisco Oliva Blázquez, the Rector of Pablo de Olavide University, along with Amapola Povedano Díaz, the Director General of Employability and Entrepreneurship, this event has seen the participation and attendance of other companies. They have shared the analysis of the current situation, identifying the needs and demands of companies and entities, evaluating available resources, defining objectives, and identifying obstacles and opportunities.
Technological Boost for Sevilla FC’s Women’s Academy
The LaLiga Impulse Plan has been a significant advancement for Spanish football clubs in terms of innovation, allowing them to materialize many of their future projects. In the case of Sevilla FC, talking about innovation is discussing one of the pillars of its strategic plan for the coming years. Technological development is a major commitment that is positioning the club at the forefront of European football. This is a path that all areas of the organization are taking, with a particular emphasis on the sports sector, where women’s football plays a significant role in present and future plans.
In this sense, the arrival of the Impulse Plan and CVC funds has facilitated the implementation of technological systems throughout the structure of Sevilla FC’s women’s academy. ‘Our commitment to women’s football is not something new, but this contribution pushes us to grow more in terms of human resources and facilities,’ explains Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, Monchi, the club’s Sporting Director. ‘The R&D department presented this project to us, and we understood that it was an opportunity to streamline and reduce the time it takes for a player to reach and adapt to the first team,’ emphasizes Amparo Gutiérrez, Director of Women’s Football at the club.
The advent of data and its multiple analyses on a large and small scale has revolutionized the world of football. Sevilla FC realized several years ago that a path of differentiation from competitors was opening up. Through its R&D department, the club developed a strategy to stay ahead of rivals. Now, all these advances are reaching the women’s football division of the organization. ‘There were things to improve, and we want to address them with the women’s performance department, using data to enhance the women’s teams and align their resources with those of men’s football,’ analyzes Monchi.
his project launched by Sevilla FC for its women’s academy will represent a qualitative leap in the physical preparation and training methods of the Sevilla female youth players. ‘All the knowledge we have acquired over the years in the R&D department, we want to make it available to the women’s academy and adapt it to their particularities,’ argues José María Cruz Gallardo, head of that department. Currently, the cadet, youth, and senior teams conduct two sessions per week, meticulously collecting data on speed, endurance, strength, and other parameters for subsequent analysis.
The technological infrastructure that Sevilla FC has acquired in recent years enables the implementation of such an ambitious project. ‘The provision of all the technological equipment we have is a means to achieve performance improvements through the analysis of data obtained with non-invasive methods,’ explains Cruz Gallardo. He recalls a reflection on which Sevilla FC bases its commitment to technological innovation: ‘What is not measured cannot be improved, and what is not improved eventually degrades.
The technological future of refereeing continues to develop at Sevilla FC’s facilities.
Football is facing a crucial stage for its future. Technological advancements have long been opening up new horizons in both the sports management of clubs and in such crucial aspects as refereeing. FIFA, the world’s governing body in football, has been pursuing a tool for some time that simplifies and automates decision-making, thus helping to make this sport as fair as possible. The international body has found the perfect allies in the company Kinexon and Sevilla FC to develop the desired technologies.
If last summer the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán served as a testing ground for the semi-automatic offside system, in recent weeks, the Ciudad Deportiva José Ramón Cisneros Palacios has been the stage for new tests with geolocation-chipped balls. This technology allows for a detailed analysis of all possible data related to a footballer and the ball, which will help automate decisions such as offside or last-player situations, two of the most controversial and challenging from a human perspective. Technologies like this smart ball, coupled with intelligent image and data capture systems, assist in the day-to-day internal management of a club, allowing for the analysis of individual players as well as the more tactical aspects of the game.
Sevilla FC, through its Data and R&D&I departments and its Innovation Center, is the European club leading technological development, as demonstrated by the creation of its own tools for resource optimization in most of its areas. Even one of them, Transfer Tracker, aimed at claiming economic rights through the solidarity mechanism – for players developed in its academy – has already been commercialized by LaLiga for the rest of the clubs worldwide. Hence, it is one of the few clubs, if not the only one, that possesses the necessary infrastructure – scientific personnel, equipment, facilities, experience, etc. – to implement all the advancements being designed.
Hydrolimit and Soldier Fly, winning projects of the II UpoEmprende Hackathon sponsored by the chair.
Hydrolimit, a device to regulate or limit water discharge and consumption in medium and low-category hotels and tourist apartments, as well as Soldier Fly, a high-quality protein product for fertilization, made from the treatment of organic waste metabolized by soldier fly larvae, have been the two winning projects of the second edition of the UPOemprende Hackathon—an event for generating ideas to solve a challenge inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This second edition, organized by the Vice-Rectorate for Institutional Relations and Foundations of the Pablo de Olavide University, through the General Directorate of Employability and Entrepreneurship, had 33 students distributed in eight multidisciplinary teams. During twelve hours, they worked to respond to the challenge posed by Recapacicla, which consisted of developing sustainable solutions to address waste issues. During the event, José Viñas, the club’s Sustainability Manager, participated as a mentor.
The jury was composed of Nuria García, Design and Strategy Coordinator in Sevilla at Andalucía Emprende; Javier Ramos, Coordinator of the Employability and Entrepreneurship Area of the UPO Foundation; Pablo Uceda, Vice President of the Association of Free Software Students at UPO ‘Esoliupo’; Juan Esteban Gómez, from the R&D&I Department of Sevilla Football Club; and Cristina Cáceres Moro, CEO of the consulting firm Ciconia and manager of the Recapacicla Universidades program. They were responsible for awarding the two prizes of 800 euros each, sponsored by the Sevilla FC Chair: University, Business, and Sports and the Recapacicla Universidades program. In the closing ceremony, in addition to the jury, participants included the General Director of Employability and Entrepreneurship at Pablo de Olavide University, Amapola Povedano; the Director of the Higher Technical School at UPO, Norberto Díaz, as well as the ambassador of the Sevilla FC Foundation, Antonio Álvarez
The IV Master’s in Big Data Applied to Football Scouting has started.
Last Tuesday, the IV Master’s in Big Data Applied to Football Scouting was officially presented. This course is offered through collaboration between the University Católica de Murcia (UCAM), Sevilla FC, and the Sports Data Campus. The Nervión club, through its Innovation Center, maintains a close collaboration with various universities, resulting in courses like this one, aimed at training over 50 students who have already received their first class from Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, Monchi, Sporting Director of Sevilla FC.
In this edition, students will once again receive direct training from leading figures in the industry. In addition to Monchi, renowned professionals such as Víctor Orta, sporting director of Leeds United, and representatives from clubs such as Aston Villa, Sporting Portugal, Villarreal CF, or Club Atlético Peñarol will be present during the training sessions. The Master’s in Big Data Applied to Football Scouting equips sporting directors, analysts, and scouts in the football field for better performance within the world of football and provides them with tools to adapt to the demanding and changing environment of the sport. New technologies offer an opportunity to differentiate oneself from the main competitors.
Throughout all its editions, this master’s program has had more than 200 students who have found the opportunity to train and grow professionally in the industry. For information on participating in future editions, all details can be found at this link.
Renewed agreement for the III Edition of the Sevilla FC Chair: university, business, and sports.
The president of Sevilla FC, José Castro Carmona, and the rector of Pablo de Olavide University, Francisco Oliva Blázquez, renewed the collaboration agreement this Wednesday for the development of the third edition of the ‘Sevilla FC Chair: University, Business, and Sports.’ The objective of this chair is to develop an integrated system of research, training, analysis, information, and dissemination activities related to knowledge transfer, employability, and entrepreneurship in the university, business, and sports fields. Also present at the event were the Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Foundations, Laura López de la Cruz, and the Head of the R&D&I Department at Sevilla FC, José María Cruz Gallardo.
José Castro highlighted Sevilla FC’s involvement in all areas of society, particularly in the field of education. ‘We believe that we can contribute to promoting innovation and knowledge from within the university since we are the reference club in LaLiga in terms of technological development,’ he emphasized. He also added that both institutions are strengthened with this Chair and referred to the 25th Anniversary of Pablo de Olavide University, ‘a project that is now a great reality, and we feel part of it.’
On the other hand, in the words of Francisco Oliva, the Chair stands out for its degree of employability, its connection to the entrepreneurial culture, and its social commitment: ‘This Chair works, and it is satisfying that Sevilla FC is committed to it. For the University, synergy with societal agents is very important, especially with such a powerful entity.’ He also highlighted the importance of sports for Pablo de Olavide University and referred to the infrastructure improvements currently underway, such as the new athletics track.
The Chair Council for this third edition will be formed, on the part of Pablo de Olavide University, by the Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Foundations and professor of the Department of Private Law, Laura López de la Cruz; the professor from the Department of Sport and Computer Science, Javier Gálvez González, who will direct the Chair; the professor from the Department of Computer Science and director of the Higher Polytechnic School, Norberto Díaz Díaz; and the coordinator of the Employability and Entrepreneurship Area at the Pablo de Olavide University Foundation, Javier Ramos Valenzuela. Likewise, on the part of Sevilla FC, the first vice president of Sevilla FC, José María del Nido Carrasco; the deputy general manager, Jesús Arroyo Sánchez; the head of the R&D&I Department, José María Cruz Gallardo; and Juan Esteban Gómez Llamas, also from the R&D&I Department, will be part of it.
During the development of this Chair, almost a dozen students have joined the club professionally. In addition, 20 training scholarships have been launched, along with four editions of the university expert title, three summer courses ‘360º Sports Management applied to football,’ and an advanced professional development course. The Chair has created the ‘Manuel Blasco Garzón’ award, named after the president of the Seville club between 1924 and 1925, to recognize the excellence of the best Bachelor’s and Master’s Theses carried out by students enrolled at the UPO. It has conducted numerous free webinars for the university community and collaborated in the UPOemprende competition.
Among the activities outlined in the collaboration agreement, the Chair includes advising and preparing reports and other studies; organizing and holding training activities; developing cultural activities; participating in congresses and conferences; and conducting joint research and diagnostic activities. It also involves designing and implementing strategies to promote entrepreneurial culture, open innovation, and support for UPO start-ups and spin-offs; social commitment actions; and the promotion and funding of Strategic Lines of Specific Training Activities at the University.