Catapult: wearable sensors, 580 staff, and data missing from match reports

Catapult's history shows where load measurement in professional sport came from. In 1999, engineers Shaun Holthouse and Igor van de Griendt worked on a project with the Australian Institute of Sport. They wanted to replace laboratory endurance testing with microtechnology. Players do not exert themselves in a lab the same way they do in competition.

The company was founded in 2006 and listed on the Sydney exchange in 2014. It is based in Melbourne, employs around 580 people, and operates globally. Its main products are wearable sensors: the Vector S7, T6, and the upcoming T7. Players wear these during training and matches.

More than sensors

The portfolio extends beyond the "wearables" label. ClearSky is a local positioning system developed with the Australian research agency CSIRO. It functions like GPS indoors, which is critical in sports halls. G5 is a monitor for goalkeepers. It measures the direction and intensity of throws, jumps, accelerations, decelerations, changes of direction, repeated high-intensity efforts, and recovery time.

Catapult has also acquired several companies: GPSports, XOS Digital, PlayerTek, SportsMedElite, and Baseline Athlete Management Systems. This creates an offering that combines sensors, video analysis, and athlete management software. It targets not only professionals but also semi-professional and amateur teams.

Who uses it

Catapult's clients include the Brazil national team, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Ittihad Club, Saracens, and the Australian cricket team. Organizations and leagues using the system include the England and Wales Cricket Board, NRL, La Liga, and XFL.

This scale explains why player data regulation has become urgent. A sensor on a footballer's back generates data about his body throughout the season. None of this appears in match protocols. A Chinese market analysis notes that this is where questions of ownership and biometric limits arise. Data that started as a coach's tool has become an asset for the club, the technology supplier, and the league simultaneously.

Load measurement was an answer to a physiological problem. Today it is a legal one.

The Catapult story is instructive not because of the company's success, but because it reveals a mechanism. A tool built for one purpose, indoor navigation, was used for something entirely different. Its side effect became a separate issue to resolve.