In the quest to create a top-caliber soccer program, University of Charleston men's coach Chris Grassie said 95 percent of the formula is his players' technique, attitude and willingness. And there's that final five percent, that sliver of the equation where other factors - including technology - can put a team over the top.
The Golden Eagles, Division II's top-ranked team, have introduced technology into their training, adding tangible evidence to coaching instinct. It has helped UC in its rise back to the top of the national rankings and will offer plenty of information in its preparation for its 4 p.m. game today against No. 21 Notre Dame (Ohio).
"We get a little boost of knowledge," Grassie said.
That little boost comes from a little system from VX Sports, a New Zealand-based sport technology company that counts among its clients the Stanford men's soccer team, UCLA women's soccer team and New Zealand Rugby League.
The players wear a small vest with a heart monitor on the front and another small GPS device on the back that tracks top speed, average speed, total distance, step rate and other measurements. After practice or games, Grassie and his staff also can call up a map of Schoenbaum Stadium and see exactly where each player had run.
"Say we're working on our back four," he said. "We can look at that back four and see who is covering how much distance, when and where."
The applications are numerous. With all that information, Grassie and the UC coaches can see exactly how hard each player is working based on total ground covered, top speed, heart rate and other measurements. For instance, on hot days, they can see that players' heart rates rise anywhere from 15 to 20 beats per minute.
"I think the science behind it is a really good thing," said UC athletic director Bren Stevens, who coached the Golden Eagles volleyball team for 19 years. "I was one of those coaches that just push-push-pushed. You learn that rest is important, too. And I think these types of things will help a lot."
Grassie feels they already were on the right track in terms of when to dial back practices and when to push the pace. The VX Sports technology offers empirical evidence to back up that intuition. And when coaches have to sit down and talk to players about their performance, they now have stats to show them where they're succeeding and where they need to work.
"There's nowhere to hide," Grassie said. "In this competitive group, when you're trying to make decisions, it's very helpful."
Senior defender Conor Branson said the technology is very beneficial from a player's perspective. They see the hard numbers of their performances in practices and games and can compare that with how they felt during each session.
"As player, you don't really notice it when you're playing," he said. "You just play your normal game. After a game, it helps you analyze how well you've done, how far you've run, how quick you've run, how many sprints you've done. And the coaches break that down so you see your improvements and where you need to improve."
The players can have fun with it, too. The team will post on Twitter after every game the top three performances in top speed, average speed and total distance. For instance, after UC's win over Seton Hill, Branson ranked first in total distance at 11.231 kilometers and second in top speed at 31.2 kilometers an hour.
It gives the team an extra little goal to reach, to see their name posted among the leaders.
"The boys don't look too much into it," Branson said, "but at the same time, it's in the back of your mind that, if you can hit a full sprint, hit a full sprint and try to get top numbers. I won No. 1 last week for distance covered and I let the other boys know about that."
While technology won't overtake a coach's intuition, Grassie said it does offer an edge. And for a team like UC, trying to return to the Division II national title game, that edge is welcome.
"A lot of what you see through your coach's eye, you see and you're right," he said. "This just gives you the backup for that or helps you see things in a new light."