Sports coaching alumnus launches online scouting platform with help from Roehampton students
- Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Former Roehampton Sports Coaching student Humphrey Aghoghovbia Jr has just launched the Player ID platform. It’s a revolutionary football scouting website that provides analysis and scout reports for young football players across London and the south east, while providing professional football clubs with access to watch video highlights of players in action.
Humphrey graduated from Roehampton in 2015 and has since developed a successful career as a football coach and scout through his company LionHeart Football. It was while recruiting for Fulham FC Academy in 2017 that he began to realise the potential of making scout reports accessible to all players via online video, and the idea for Player ID was born. LionHeart collaborated with Scottish based Nagne Studio to build and develop Humphrey’s platform, a process that involved students and staff at his old department at Roehampton in testing and feedback on the validity of the project. Going forward, Roehampton students will also undertake research with users of the platform which will be part of their ethical research projects and contribute to their degree.
The Player ID platform works by inviting players between the ages of nine and 18 to create a free account for themselves and buy scout reports. These reports provide players with clips of their own match footage, their performance stats and suggested action plans for improvement. Meanwhile the scouts - who must be affiliated to a professional football club with a licensed club account on the platform - can view and shortlist players, then make approaches to the player if they deem them suitable for their club. If a scout wishes to invite a player to trial, they must approach his or her guardian via the platform to arrange it. It's a simple and innovative way of getting players seen by the right people, while saving scouts countless hours of travelling to fixtures across the region.
Humphrey commented: “Young players, outside of the Academy system, seldom get the opportunity to receive feedback from professionals supported by high quality video footage. By offering this, Player ID will improve players’ understanding of themselves as footballers. The platform will also move professional scouting forward by increasing job opportunities for men and women who want to forge a career in the field at a time when scouting jobs at pro clubs are very scarce. I'd like to thank Emerick Kaitell, Julie Powell and all the staff at the University of Roehampton for the support they continue to provide me with as a former student. The students who helped develop Player ID, Duane, Calum and Richard, are 'bright lights' with a great understanding of football tactics and performance analysis, and their contributions were critical. I can’t wait to see the platform launch in the south east, before scaling nationwide, and help young players get identified and selected by the club of their dreams”