WO2012089913A1

WO2012089913A1 - Apparatus, method, and computer program for coaching and/or monitoring in team sport

Info

Publication number: WO2012089913A1
Application number: PCT/FI2011/051099
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jarkko Sakari Huhtela; Antti-Pekka Tauriainen
Original assignee: Kuru Digital Creations Oy
Priority date: 2010-12-29
Filing date: 2011-12-13
Publication date: 2012-07-05
Also published as: FI20106381A0; EP2658626A1

Abstract

Apparatus, method, and computer program for coaching and/or monitoring in team sport are disclosed. The apparatus may be a tablet including a touchscreen (130). A playing field (300) of a team sport is displayed on the touchscreen (300). Data relating to the team sport is inputted by manipulation of the playing field(300) displayed on the touchscreen (130) and/or by manipulation of control elements(302-350)displayed on the touchscreen (130).

Description

Apparatus, method, and computer program for coaching and/or monitoring in team sport

Field

The invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a computer program for coaching and/or monitoring in team sport.

Background

Coaching and monitoring in team sport is still performed mostly with relatively prim itive tools, such as a pen , paper, fl ipchart etc. Further sophistication is clearly desirable. Brief description

The present invention seeks to provide an improved apparatus, method, and computer program for coaching and/or monitoring in team sport.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus as specified in claim 1 .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method as specified in claim 6.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program as specified in claim 1 1 .

List of drawings

Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 illustrates embodiments of an apparatus;

Figure 2 illustrates embodiments of a system;

Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 illustrates operation of the apparatus; and Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating embodiments of a method.

Description of embodiments

The fol lowing em bod i ments are exem pl ary. Althoug h the specification may refer to "an" embodiment in several locations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only appl ies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

Figure 1 illustrates embodiments of an apparatus 100. Figure 1 only shows some elements whose implementation may differ from what is shown. The connections shown in Figure 1 are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. Interfaces between the various elements may be implemented with su itable interface technolog ies, such as a message interface, a method interface, a sub-routine call interface, a block interface, or any means enabling communication between functional sub-units. It should be appreciated that the apparatus 100 may comprise other parts. However, such other parts may be irrelevant to the actual invention and, therefore, they need not be discussed in more detail here. It is also to be noted that although some elements are depicted as separate ones, some of them may be integrated into a single physical element. The specifications of the apparatus 1 00 may develop rapid ly. Such development may requ ire extra changes to an embodiment. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiments.

The apparatus 100 comprises a touchscreen 130, a processor 1 16, and a memory 102/1 06 including computer program 1 34 instructions 136. Consequently, the apparatus 100 may be implemented as a tablet personal computer, as a radio terminal employing the touchscreen 130, or as any other portable electronic data processing device employing the touchscreen 130, such as a palmtop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), Apple® iPad® etc. The rad io term inal may be a subscriber terminal , user equ ipment, smartphone, or some other type of wireless mobile communication device operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM). A wireless connection may be implemented with a wireless transceiver operating according to the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or Bluetooth® standard, or any other suitable standard/non-standard wireless communication means. The touchscreen 1 30 is an electronic visual display capable of detecting the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The touchscreen 1 30, together with the software run in the processor 1 1 6 implements a user interface for the apparatus 1 00: the touchscreen 1 30 enables the user to interact directly with what is displayed (as opposed to an indirect interaction with a cursor controlled by a mouse or another pointing device).

The apparatus 100 may be implemented as a WeTab, for example. WeTa b is a M eeGo-based tablet personal computer with the following specification: a 1 1 ,6" widescreen multitouch touchscreen 130 with 1366x768 pixels resolution, a 1 .66 GHz Intel Atom N450 Pineview processor 1 16, 1 GB working memory 106, 16 GB NAND non-volatile memory 102, and with various communication interfaces 1 24: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, WLAN (802.1 1 b/g/n), and an optional 3G (GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA), USB, HDMI, and SD card reader. WeTab weighs about one kilogram.

As shown in F igu res 3 and 5, the memory 102/106 and the computer program 134 instructions 136 are configured to, with the processor 1 16, cause the apparatus 100 to display a playing field 300/500 of a team sport on the touchscreen 130, and to input data relating to the team sport by manipulation of the playing field 300 displayed on the touchscreen 130 and/or by man ipulation of control elements 302-350/502-532 displayed on the touchscreen 130.

Theoretically, a 'team sport' includes any sport which involves players working together towards a shared objective. Usually, this shared objective is to win, by outscoring the opposing team. The team sport includes, but is not l imited to, ice hockey, football (soccer), volleyball , basketball , floorball, and many others. A 'league' refers to a group of sports teams that compete against each other in a specific team sport. One example of a league is the National Hockey League (NHL) in ice hockey.

The apparatus 100 may be an electronic digital computer, which may comprise, besides the processor 1 16 and the touchscreen 130, a number of other devices. The memory may comprise a working memory 1 06 and a non-volatile memory 102. Additionally, the computer 100 comprises a system clock 128. Furthermore, the computer 100 may comprise a number of peripheral devices. In Figure 1, one peripheral device is illustrated: a communications interface 124. Naturally, the computer 100 may comprise a number of other peripheral devices, not illustrated here for the sake of clarity.

The system clock 128 constantly generates a stream of electrical pulses, which cause the various transferring operations within the computer 100 to take place in an orderly manner and with specific timing.

The communication interface 124 may implement a telecommunications connection between the apparatus 100 and some other device. A wireless connection may be implemented with a wireless transceiver operating according to the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or Bluetooth® standard, or any other suitable standard/non- standard wireless communication means. The wireless connection may also be implemented by a wireless connection to an access point, wherefrom the data may be transferred onwards by a wired connection, through the Internet, for example. The communication interface 124 may also comprise a suitable communication bus, such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) or some other serial/parallel bus, operating in a wireless/wired fashion, with which the apparatus 100 may be coupled to an external display or a printer, for example.

Additionally, the apparatus 100 may communicate with other devices through its memory, i.e. the data 104 may have been brought into the non-volatile memory 102 via a memory device (such as a memory card, an optical disk, or any other suitable non-volatile memory device).

The term 'processor' refers to a device that is capable of processing data. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer 100 may comprise several (parallel) processors 116. The processor 116 may comprise an electronic circuit or electronic circuits implementing the required functionality, and/or a microprocessor or microprocessors running a computer program 134 implementing the required functionality. When designing the implementation, a person skilled in the art will consider the requirements set for the size and power consumption of the apparatus 100, the necessary processing capacity, production costs, and production volumes, for example. The electronic circuit may comprise logic components, standard integrated circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), and/or other suitable electronic structures.

The m icroprocessor 1 1 6 implements fu nctions of a central processing unit (CPU) on an integrated circu it. The CPU 1 1 6 is a logic mach ine executing a computer program 1 34, which comprises program instructions 136. The program instructions 136 may be coded as a computer prog ram usi ng a prog ram m i ng l ang uage , wh ich may be a h ig h-level programm ing language, such as C, or Java, or a low-level programming language, such as a machine language, or an assembler. The CPU 1 16 may comprise a set of registers 1 1 8, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 1 20, and a control unit (CU) 1 22. The control unit 122 is controlled by a sequence of program instructions 136 transferred to the CPU 1 16 from the working memory 106. The control unit 122 may contain a number of microinstructions for basic operations. The implementation of the microinstructions may vary, depending on the CPU 1 16 design. The microprocessor 1 16 may also have an operating system (a general purpose operating system, a dedicated operating system of an embedded system, or a real-time operating system, for example), which may provide the computer program 1 34 with system services. As was explained earlier, the operating system may be MeeGo, but, naturally, it may be any other suitable operating system, such as Symbian, Android, iOS, RIM Blackberry OS, Windows Mobile, Linux, bada, Maemo etc.

There may be three different types of buses between the working memory 106 and the processor 1 16: a data bus 1 10, a control bus 1 12, and an address bus 1 14. The control unit 1 22 uses the control bus 1 1 2 to set the working memory 1 06 in two states, one for writing data into the working memory 106, and the other for reading data from the working memory 106. The control unit 122 uses the address bus 1 14 to send to the working memory 106 address signals for addressing specified portions of the memory in writing and reading states. The data bus 1 10 is used to transfer data 108 from the working memory 106 to the processor 1 16 and from the processor 1 16 to the working memory 106, and to transfer the instructions 1 36 from the working memory 106 to the processor 1 16.

The working memory 106 may be implemented as a random-access memory (RAM), where the information is lost after the power is switched off. The RAM is capable of returning any piece of data in a constant time, regardless of its physical location and whether or not it is related to the previous piece of data. The data may comprise data relating to the team sport, any temporary data needed during the processing, program instructions etc.

The non-volatile memory 102 retains the stored information even when not powered . Examples of non-volatile memory include read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, magnetic computer storage devices such as hard disk drives, and optical discs. As is shown in Figure 1 , the non-volatile memory 102 may store both data 104 and a computer program 134 comprising program instructions 136.

An em bod iment provides a non-transitory computer readable storage medium 132 storing a computer program 134, comprising program instructions which, when loaded into an apparatus 100, cause the apparatus 100 to display a playing field of a team sport on the touchscreen 130, and to input data relating to the team sport by manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen 130 and/or by manipulation of control elements displayed on the touchscreen 130.

The computer program 1 34 may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form. The computer program 134 may be stored in a carrier 132, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program to the apparatus 100. The carrier 132 may be implemented as follows, for example: the computer program 134 may be embodied on a record medium, stored in a computer memory, embodied in a read-only memory, carried on an electrical carrier signal, carried on a telecommunications signal, and/or embodied on a software distribution medium . In some jurisdictions, depending on the legislation and the patent practice, the carrier 132 may not be the telecommunications signal. Figure 1 illustrates that the carrier 132 may be coupled with the apparatus 1 00, whereupon the program 1 34 com prising the program instructions 1 36 is transferred into the non-volatile memory 1 02 of the apparatus 1 00. The program 134 with its program instructions 136 may be loaded from the non-volatile memory 102 into the working memory 106. During running of the program 134, the program instructions 136 are transferred via the data bus 1 1 0 from the working memory 1 06 into the control unit 122, wherein usually a portion of the instructions 136 resides and controls the operation of the apparatus 100.

There are many ways to structure the program 134. The operations of the program may be divided into functional modules, sub-routines, methods, classes, objects, applets, macros, widgets etc., depending on the software desig n methodology and the programm ing language used . I n modern programming environments, there are software libraries, i.e. compilations of ready made functions, which may be utilized by the program for performing a wide variety of standard operations.

In summary, the apparatus 100 illustrated in Figure 1 may be used by a coach and other team members as an aid for managing and analyzing the team and their games. The apparatus 100 may be a single stand-alone apparatus 100. But, this is just one option.

The apparatus 100 may be a part of a system illustrated in Figure 2, as, depending on the team sport, on the requirements set by the coach and the team, and on other decisive factors, the apparatus 100 functionality may be distributed or duplicated among a number of apparatuses or distributed parts implementing the required structure and functionality.

A basic set 220 may include three client apparatuses, the first client 100A for the coach, the second client 100B for the person keeping the statistics during the game, and the third client 100C for an assistant, a server 21 4 for storing the information, and a WLAN router 200 for routing the communication between the apparatuses 100A, 100B, 100C, and possibly also the communication with the server 214. It is to be noted that the WLAN is just one option for implementing the communication, and even if the WLAN is used, the WLAN router 200 may not necessarily be needed. Additionally, or alternatively, the communication may be implemented with other wireless means, as was discussed earlier in relation to the communication interface 124 with reference to Figure 1 , i.e. through a mobile telecommunications system, for example. The basic set 220 may further comprise a storage/transport briefcase for the system, and all the necessary chargers and power supply cables. As shown in Figure 2, the server may be coupled to an external display 21 6 and/or to a printer 218, for further displaying/processing of the data relating to the team sport. The basic set 220 provides the toolset for the professional coaching of the team : basic tool for the coach, game tactics planning, game handbook, notes, exercise diary, real-time player statistics, player profiles of own team, player profiles of opposing teams, communication tools etc.

The basic set 220 may also communicate suitable public information to a big wide-audience display 210 viewed by the spectators of the team sport event. Such public information may be, for example, game statistics of an individual player, for example. As illustrated in Figure 2, such communication may take place through the WLAN router 200.

Besides the basic set 220, the system may comprise other parts. One stand-alone (client) apparatus 202 may be operated by a supervisor, which may be an official of the league observing the game, for example. The apparatus 202 of the supervisor may communicate with a server 204 of the league storing information gathered from individual games and teams.

The system may also comprise a service provider server 208, which, in addition to or instead of the server 214, stores and processes various data. In such an embodiment, a service provider may provide the system for all individual teams within a league, not necessarily for coaching, but at least for the collection of the statistics.

The system may also com prise an interface 206 for med ia companies, i.e. information collected from games may be, even in real-time provided for television broadcasting companies, Internet sites etc. so that the media companies may provide further information on games and teams for their viewers/users.

With reference to Figures 3 and 4, let us study some embodiments of the apparatus 100 as regards to inputting an exercise/situation. 'Exercise' refers to exercises performed during training of a team. The exercise may be a tactical manoeuvre, for example, determining how the team should attack or defend. 'Situation' refers a pattern detected during a game, i.e. the coach may instruct the team during the game how to overcome the detected pattern, such as a way to overcome the pass deflections by the defencemen, for example. A playing field 300 is displayed on the touch screen 130. As our example team sport is ice hockey, the playing field 300 pictures an ice hockey rink. Additionally, control elements 302-350 are displayed on the touch screen 130. Consequently, the user interacts d irectly with what is d isplayed on the touchscreen 1 30: by man ipulating the playing field 300 and the control elements 302-350 with suitable touches.

The basic operations are performed with buttons 302-312: pressing an exit button 302 exits the exercise/situation display, pressing a save button 304 saves the created exercise/situation, pressing a load button 306 loads a saved exercise/situation, pressing a delete button 308 deletes the present exercise/situation, p re s s i n g a c l e a r b u tto n 3 1 0 clears the present exercise/situation, and pressing a draw button 312 enables free line drawing.

With control element 314, a line may be selected, i.e. in ice hockey each line includes five players (three forwards and two defencemen). In Figure 3, line 2 is selected (as it is displayed with a bold font), and, players belonging to l ine 2 are d isplayed as buttons 31 6, 318, 320, 322, 324, each button displaying the player's number: 4, 7, 16, 17, and 99. By pressing and dragging a player button, the player in question may be placed on the playing field: in Figure 3, player 99 is placed 352 in front of the opponent's goal on the playing field 300.

Besides placing individual players identified by their numbers, general, not named players may be placed on the playing field 300 as well. For this purposes, buttons 326, 328, and 330 may be used: the 'X'-symbol on the button 326 representing a player of the attacking team, the triangle symbol on the button 328 representing a player of the defending team, and the O'-symbol on the button representing a goaltender. Additionally, the puck may be added to the playing field 300 as well with the button 332.

The movement of the players, identified by their numbers 316, 318,

320, 322, 324 and/or by their generic symbols 326, 328, 330, may be illustrated on the playing field 300 as well with buttons 334, 336, 338, 340, 342, and 344: button 334 illustrating the player's movement without the puck, button 336 illustrating the player's movement with the puck, button 338 illustrating passing of the puck, button 340 illustrating a shot with the puck, button 342 illustrating backward skating of the player, and button 344 illustrating a drop pass.

Finally, the three remaining buttons 346, 348, and 350 have the following functionalities: play button 346 starts an animated sequence, stop button 348 stops the animated sequence, and save button 350 saves an individual event for the animated exercise/situation sequence. The speed of the animation may be adjusted as a parameter in settings.

In Figure 4, an exercise/situation sequence is illustrated. The end of the sequence is illustrated, i.e. all the following actions have been shown in animated manner following each other one by one: a first attacking player 400 first passes the puck to a second attacking player 402 and then moves into the middle of playing field 300, the second attacking player 402 passes the puck to a third attacking player 404, a fourth attacking player 406 skates first normally and then backwards to receive a pass from the third attacking player 404, the fourth attacking player 406 passes the puck to the first attacking player 400 in the middle of the playing field 300, and finally the fourth attacking player 406 continues to skate forward and into the middle of the playing field 300. The defending players are illustrated as 408, 410, 412, and 414.

In the embodiments illustrated in Figures 3 a nd 4, the memory 102/106 and the computer program 134 instructions 136 are further configured to , with the processor 1 16, cause the apparatus 100 to input an exercise/situation by at least one of the following: adding players 316-330 on the playing field 300, adding movement 334, 336, 342 of the players 316-330 onto the playing field 300, adding actions 338, 340, 344 performed by the players 316-330 onto the playing field 300, adding movement 338, 340, 344 of a puck/ball onto the playing field 300, all with the manipulation of the playing field 300 displayed on the touchscreen 130 and/or with the manipulation of the control elements 302-350 displayed on the touchscreen 130. Additionally, the memory 102/106 and the computer program 134 instructions 136 are further configured to, with the processor 1 16, cause the apparatus 100 to output the inputted exercise/situation by displaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen 130: players, movement of the players, actions performed by the players, movement of the puck/ball.

Next, with reference to Figure 5, embodiments of the apparatus 100 relating to input of event data are discussed.

A playing field 300, but in a smaller size, is again displayed on the touch screen 130. The hockey rink 300 is divided into five areas: left defensive zone, right defensive zone, neutral zone, right offensive zone, and left offensive zone.

Furthermore, a series of control and information elements 502-532 are displayed on the touch screen 130.

In control element 502 a game clock is displayed. The time may be maintained by the apparatus 1 00 itself or it may be obtained from a timekeeping system 212 of the game organizer.

Control element 504 d iscloses a map of the goal viewed from behind: it is divided into seven zones: left upper corner, left lower corner, upper middle, lower middle, right upper corner, and right lower corner.

Pressing of message button 506 starts a messaging application, which will be explained later on with reference to Figures 6 and 7.

Pressing of exit button 508 exits the event input mode.

Pressing of lock button 51 0 locks the touch screen 51 0, i .e. unauthorized use of the apparatus 100 is prohibited. Input of a password is required in order to return to the event input mode. Pressing of history button 512 fetches previously stored information from a database.

Information element 516 shows which one of the three 20-minute periods of the game is currently ongoing.

Control element 522 shows the 18 players of the team with their player numbers. In NHL, for example, the maximum number of players is 18 per team plus two goaltenders. The goaltenders are shown in control element 532. A special goaltender coach may concentrate on inputting event data relating only to actions of the own (or opponent's) goaltender. Control element 530 represents all players of the opposing team, as a player number Ό', although, if finer granularity is desired, each and every player of the opposing team may also be represented by a different button as with the own team.

With control elements 524, 526, and 528 the present penalty situation may be inputted: default value is that there are no players in the penalty box, i.e. control element 524 (Y denotes that the button has yellow colour) is pressed, control element 526 (G denotes green colour) indicates that own team is on a power play, and control element 528 (R denotes red colour) is used to input that own team is shorthanded.

Control element area 520 includes numerous event buttons. By pressing individual buttons game events may be inputted into a dialogue bar 518. The control element area 520 is changed as the user is inputting events from left to right. In the example of Figure 5, as shot is first chosen from the leftmost column, the next column becomes the values relating to the shot etc.

In Figure 5, the following sequence of game events has been inputted. Player number 3 is first inputted by pressing player button 3 of control elements 522, i.e. the sequence of game events relates to player number 3 as is shown in the dialogue bar 518. Next, shot button of the control element area 520 is pressed, and "SHOT" is entered into the dialogue bar 518. As the shot is directed towards the goal, goal button of the control element area 520 is pressed, and "GOAL" is entered into the dialogue bar 518. Also the nature of the attack, "DIRECT ATTACK" and "VIA END ZONE", is inputted with the appropriate buttons of the control element area 520 to the dialogue bar 518. Next, from the playing field 300 the right offensive zone 500 is selected, i.e. the shot was shot from the right offensive zone 500 towards the goal, and "AREA 4" is entered intro the dialogue bar 518. Even the area of the goal where the shot was directed, if spotted, may be selected: upper middle 514 is selected from the map of the goal 504, and "GOAL AREA 4" is entered into the dialogue bar 518. Please note that there may not be enough room for all texts in the drawings. Pressing of a store button in control element area 520 results in that the sequence of game events entered into the dialogue bar 518 are stored.

An experienced used may input a vast number of such sequences during the game, thanks to the intuitive and very powerful way of utilizing the touchscreen 130. Furthermore, the inputted event data may be further processed within the apparatus 1 00, and/or within the apparatuses 1 00A, 1 00B and 1 00C, and/or with in the server 21 4, and/or within the service provider server 208, and/or within the apparatus 202, and/or within the league server 204.

In the embodiments illustrated in Figure 5, the memory 102/106 and the computer program 134 instructions 136 are further configured to, with the processor 1 16, cause the apparatus 100 to input event data of a game by adding actions performed by the players, such as passes, shoots, saves, goals, face-off wins/losses, penalties, with the manipulation of the playing field 300 displayed on the touchscreen 130 and/or with the manipulation of the control elements 502-532 displayed on the touchscreen 130; and to output the inputted event data of the game by displaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen 130: individual event data, summary data generated from the inputted event data, player-specific data compiled from the inputted event data, team-specific summary data generated from the inputted event data.

As was already explained, the apparatus 100 may further comprise an input interface 124 configured to receive timekeeping data relating to the game from the electronic timekeeping system 212. The memory 102/106 and the computer program 134 instructions 136 may further be configured to, with the processor 1 16, cause the apparatus 100 to timestamp the event data of the game with the timekeeping data.

Especially during a game, a real-time messaging application may be useful . In Figure 6, the messaging application has been entered, and the assistant uses his client 100C to send a message to the client 100A of the coach. In the messaging application, a message window 600 and the playing field 300 are displayed on the touchscreen 130. The control elements exit 602, send 604, and keyboard 606 are also displayed: pressing of the exit button 602 exits the messaging application, pressing of the send button 604 sends the message, and pressing of the keyboard button 606 open a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen 606 so that the message text, subject, and recipient may be inputted. Also further control elements may be displayed: in the example of Figure 6, the already familiar buttons 334-344 are displayed. The assistant has inputted the message text "TRY SHOTS TO RIGHT UPPER CORNER FROM RIGHT", and he has also augmented his message with the drawing showing an attacking player 608 making a shot towards the goal from right offensive zone. Figure 7 illustrates the client 100A of the coach. Exit 702, reply 704, and keyboard 706 are displayed on the touchscreen 1 30, together with the received illustration of the playing field 300, control elements 334-344, and a message window 700. The coach has inputted the message text "OK. HAVE YOU SPOTTED ANY OTHER WEAKNESSES?" as a reply to the assistant, and by pressing the reply button 704 the message is transmitted to the client 1 00C of the assistant. The communication may be between two individual clients, such as 100A and 100C, or the communication may also be such that it is transmitted within all the participating clients 100A, 100B, and 100C.

However, the messaging application may also be utilized during training, and/or the messages may be exchanged also with the servers 204, 208, 214, and, if so wished, also with the outside world. Consequently, the apparatus 100 further comprises a wireless communications interface 124 configured to exchange information with another apparatus 100A, 100B, 100C, and/or exchange information with a server 204/208/214 configured to store information of the team sport, and the memory 102/106 and the computer program 134 instructions 136 are further configured to, with the processor 1 16, cause the apparatus 100 to input and/or output the exchanged information with the touchscreen 130, the input being performed with the manipulation of the playing field 300 displayed on the touchscreen 130 and/or with the manipulation of the control elements 600-608, 700-706, 334-344 displayed on the touchscreen 130.

N atu ra l l y , t h e a p pa ratu s 1 00 i n cl u d es n u m e rous other functionalities, not described within this patent application for the sake of clarity and conciseness. Such functionalities include creation of teams, input of data relating to teams, input of data relating to players, input of data relating to individual games, and all kinds of reports and summaries of the inputted data. Besides being a tool for coaching and supervision, the apparatus 100 may also be a management tool of the team.

Next, with reference to F ig ure 8, a method performed in an electronic apparatus is explained . The method may be implemented as the apparatus 100 or the computer program 134 comprising program instructions 136 which, when loaded into the apparatus 100, cause the apparatus 100 to perform the process to be described. The embodiments of the apparatus 100 may also be used to en hance the method , and , correspond ingly, the embodiments of the method may be used to enhance the apparatus 100.

The steps are in no absolute chronological order, and some of the steps may be performed simultaneously or in an order differing from the given one. Other functions can also be executed between the steps or within the steps and other data exchanged between the steps. Some of the steps or part of the steps may also be left out or replaced by a corresponding step or part of the step. It should be noted that no special order of operations is required in the method, except where necessary due to the logical requirements for the processing order.

The method starts in 800. In 802, a playing field of a team sport is displayed on the touchscreen. In 804 , data relating to the team sport is inputted by manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or by manipulation of control elements displayed on the touchscreen. The method ends in 814.

Optionally, in 806, an exercise/situation is inputted by at least one of the following: adding players on the playing field, adding movement of the players onto the playing field, adding actions performed by the players onto the playing field, adding movement of a puck/ball onto the playing field, all with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen; and the inputted exercise/situation is outputted by d isplaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen : players, movement of the players, actions performed by the players, movement of the puck/ball.

Optionally, in 808, event data of a game is inputted by adding actions performed by the players, such as passes, shoots, saves, goals, face- off wins/losses, penalties, with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the man ipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen; and the inputted event data of the game is outputted by displaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen : individual event data, summary data generated from the inputted event data, player-specific data compiled from the inputted event data, team-specific summary data generated from the inputted event data. Optionally, in 810, the event data of the game is timestamped with timekeeping data received from an electronic timekeeping system.

Optionally, in 81 2, information is exchanged via a wireless communications interface with another apparatus, and/or with a server storing information of the team sport; and the exchanged information is inputted and/or outputted with the touchscreen , the input being performed with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1 . An apparatus for coaching and/or monitoring in team sport, comprising:

a touchscreen;

a processor; and

a memory including computer program instructions;

the memory and th e com puter prog ram i nstructions bei ng configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus:

to display a playing field of a team sport on the touchscreen; and

to i n put data relating to the team sport by manipulation of the playing field d isplayed on the touchscreen and/or by manipulation of control elements displayed on the touchscreen.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the memory and the computer program instructions are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus:

to input an exercise/situation by at least one of the following: adding players on the playing field, adding movement of the players onto the playing field, adding actions performed by the players onto the playing field, adding movement of a puck/ball onto the playing field, all with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen; and

to output the inputted exercise/situation by displaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen: players, movement of the players, actions performed by the players, movement of the puck/ball.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the memory and the computer program instructions are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus:

to input event data of a game by adding actions performed by the players, such as passes, shoots, saves, goals, face-off wins/losses, penalties, with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen; and

to output the inputted event data of the game by displaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen: individual event data, summary data generated from the inputted event data, player-specific data compiled from the inputted event data, team-specific summary data generated from the inputted event data.

4. The apparatus of cla im 3, wherein the apparatus further comprises an input interface configured to receive timekeeping data relating to the game from an electronic timekeeping system, and the memory and the computer program instructions are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus:

to timestamp the event data of the game with the timekeeping data.

5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus further comprises a wireless communications interface configured to exchange information with another apparatus, and/or exchange information with a server configured to store information of the team sport, and the memory and the computer program instructions are further configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus:

to i n put a nd/or output th e exch a nged i nformation with the touchscreen, the input being performed with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen.

6. A method for coaching and/or monitoring in team sport performed in an electronic apparatus, comprising:

displaying a playing field of a team sport on the touchscreen; and inputting data relating to the team sport by manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or by manipulation of control elements displayed on the touchscreen.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

inputting an exercise/situation by at least one of the following : adding players on the playing field, adding movement of the players onto the playing field, adding actions performed by the players onto the playing field, adding movement of a puck/ball onto the playing field, all with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen; and

outputting the inputted exercise/situation by displaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen: players, movement of the players, actions performed by the players, movement of the puck/ball.

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

inputting event data of a game by adding actions performed by the players, such as passes, shoots, saves, goals, face-off wins/losses, penalties, with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen; and

outputting the inputted event data of the game by displaying at least one of the following on the touchscreen: individual event data, summary data generated from the inputted event data, player-specific data compiled from the inputted event data, team-specific summary data generated from the inputted event data.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

timestamping the event data of the game with timekeeping data received from an electronic timekeeping system.

10. The method of any preceding claim 6 to 9, further comprising: exchanging information via a wireless communications interface with another apparatus, and/or with a server storing information of the team sport; and

inputting and/or outputting the exchanged information with the touchscreen, the input being performed with the manipulation of the playing field displayed on the touchscreen and/or with the manipulation of the control elements displayed on the touchscreen.

1 1 . A computer program comprising program instructions which, when loaded into an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the process of any preceding claim 6 to 10.