What is Sports Performer ?
What does Sports Performer do?
What do I need to run Sports Performer?
Can I trial Sports Performer?
Can I run multiple versions of Sports Performer?
Will Sports Performer run in the US where video format is NTSC?
Is Sports Performer designed for any sport?
Who is using Sports Performer?
What is the Sports Performer Viewer?
How do I capture footage to my computer?
Who developed Sports Performer?


What is Sports Performer?
Sports Performer is a software application that allows the operator to watch and 'tag' video footage against a player, statistic or position on the field and make comments on the clip.
These 'tags' can be recalled and replayed at any time in the future. No longer will review and preview of matches involve hours of trolling through old game DVD's.
Sports Performer will control it all for you now and into the future.
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What does Sports Performer do?
Basically, you can record and then analyze anything you want.
An example is a coach tagging everything his halfback does by pressing '7' on the keyboard with the video file playing through Sports Performer whenever his halfback is involved in play. The Sports Performer software will record all those plays and save them for later recall.
Then the coach can make a movie of these clips, save it to CD and give it to the player for feedback. The file can be archived and added to after every game and any improvement or deterioration of form or skill can be analyzed.
So, how many other scenarios can be analyzed?
Every player, play, tackle, pass, play the ball, time on the ground, time with the dance, angle run, catch, pass, kick, left shoulder tackle, wrestle, line defense, marker play, every set or every tackle in a set, coming out of your own end, first receiver catch and pass.
The possiblities are endless and are controlled by you.
It goes on and on. Whatever you want out of a game (or an opponent's game) can be recorded with a tap on the keyboard as you are watching the video through you computer.
Think of the time that will be saved.
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What do I need to run Sports Performer?
Sports Performer requires a computer of speed capable of running video files. All new computers have this capability and older machines with the following configuration could also be suitable.
Minimum hardware requirements:
PC - 1GHz
* 256 MB of RAM
* 40 GB Hard Disk
* System Windows Vista, XP or 2000
Should you be transferring analog video, you will also need a video capture device, available at most reputable computer stores and large electrical retails such as Domayne or Harvey Norman. For a laptop, recommend a USB connection and a PCI device for a desktop computer.
Should you be lucky enough to have access to digital footage, this device is not required as the file can be transferred directly from the camera to the computers hard-disk using the supplied camera software and the camera port.
If video footage is contained on a DVD, Sports Performer uses and recommends using DVDx, a freeware application used to 'rip' footage from a DVD. This software is available for download from the Help page.
Sports Performer staff will give assistance in selecting a device appropriate to your current machinery.
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Can I trial Sports Performer?
Yes.
If you already have MPEG-1 files, you will be able to download the software directly from the web-site. Sports Performer staff are currently offering to convert a file for use in the demonstration and send it back to you on CD. Please EMail us for further details.
Alternatively, by providing your name, contact details, your club and position within the club either directly or via the contact section of this website, a CD containing the 30-day trial version as well as a short video file will be posted to you.
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Can I run multiple versions of Sports Performer?
Sports Performer is priced on a per-machine basis meaning you can run multiple versions on a single computer. This is applicable where you want to have different teams and/or sports using the software.
Subsequent Sports Performer registrations on other machines are priced at 50% of full price when registering in the same name.
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Will Sports Performer run in the US where video format is NTSC?
The software is totally independent of your video format, thus making it possible to use all over the world. The system needs an MPEG-1 (.mpg) file and just how this is derived is irrelevant.
On capture, your local capture card would capture the game using the local encryption.
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Is Sports Performer designed for any sport?
Sports Performer was written dynamically to allow any sport to use the application. Statistics are entirely user maintained and do not even have to conform to any standard term within the code that you are coaching. A coach may wish to have statistics in the system identified by the teams code-call or another term that only means something to the particular group of players.
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Who is using Sports Performer?
Sports Performer is being used by countless clubs and schools within Australia, the UK and New Zealand. NRL clubs in Australia are using the application for their lower grades or junior and development programs.
There is also terrific interest at all levels in the UK. Sports Performer was demonstrated throughout Northern England in October 2003 and April 2005 resulting in several prominent UK Super League clubs taking delivery of the system. The system has also been delivered to the French director of coaching when they visited Sydney in 2004. Individual users are also scattered around the globe with field hockey users in Italy, Rugby coaches in South Africa and even a rugby league team in Papua New Guinea.
Other interest has been received from Fiji and even the United States of America.
Click here for a complete list of all Sports Performer users
Click here to find out what they are saying about Sports Performer
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What is the Sports Performer Viewer?
For a fraction of the price of additional Sports Performer licences, the Sports Performer VIEWER can be installed on networked computers allowing your players to log in and view all tags associated to them.
It could be particularly useful for schools with multiple computers in a library allowing students immediate access to tagged footage.
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How do I capture video to my computer?
A readily available video capture device is plugs between your VCR and your computer and the associated software can display and record the vision onto your computer. When purchasing a device, ensure that it will encode to MPG format which is what Sports Performer utilises.
The machine that you have will determine which device is best suited to your requirements. The USB port has become the most popular way of transferring the file from video if you have one available. Alternatively, some devices are in the form of a PCI-card that can be slotted into a desktop computer.
Again, ensure that the capture is done in MPG format.
Digital footage from a digital camera has become very popular in recent years and this can be simply transferred to the computer via the associated fire-wire port and cable.
More recently, the introduction of providing teams with a DVD of their matches has made the process much simpler and can be handled by one of the numerous DVD free-ware programs available. Sports Performer recommends DVDx.
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Who developed Sports Performer?
Sports Performer has been solely designed and developed by David Perry in his offices on the New South Wales Central Coast.

As a rugby league player, David graduated from the his junior club of Wyong Kangaroos as an 18 year old in 1984 to play with Parramatta lower grades during some of the clubs glory years of 1985-1987. He fulfilled a desire to play with the club he had followed since he was a boy and learn from some of the champions of the era including Mick Cronin, Peter Sterling and Ray Price.

With over 100 appearances for the club as a speedy outside back and goal-kicker, Perry gained the respect of both staff and supporters which continues today. The 1987 season saw him win the clubs 'Under-23 Player of the Year' award, play a large majority of the season in the Reserve Grade side and culminate in 2 appearances in the first grade side alongside superstars such as Peter Sterling. Perry returned to Wyong in 1988 and helped guide the club to numerous Grand Finals and Premiership success in 1990 and 1992.

After his retirement as a player in 1995, Perry turned his hand to a coaching role and took a number of the Wyong lower grade teams to the Central Coast Grand Finals including the clubs Under 19's side to premiership success in 2001. The following season, Perry took on an assistant role at the Erina Eagles and then later, an assistant role of the Central Coast Rip Harold Matthews Cup side in 2003.

David’s computer programming career began while still at school and progressed through his early playing years with assistance from contacts he gained while at Parramatta. Now with over 20 years experience, David has been involved with various business applications and for the last 10 years as an independent computer consultant with Premier Concepts Pty Ltd, the company he setup in 1994.

Sports Performer was initially developed in the late 1990’s for personal use as a coaching tool through a desire to improve his own team’s performance. The application evolved over the years before featuring in an RLCM article in early 2003 and the interest generated from this prompted Perry to redevelop the software in a more user-friendly environment.
The new Sports Performer was launched at the Football Codes Expo at Sydney’s Olympic Park in June 2003. Perry is always looking for ways to improve the product and is happy to receive feedback and suggestions for enhancements from the users and so Sports Performer is constantly being updated.
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