The StatsBomb Conference is a dedicated research event that brings together the best minds in football analytics to discuss their work and the future of the industry. As many of you know, a key part of the success of our events has been our Research Paper Competition.
The competition allows selected participants to create innovative research on new and existing topics using StatsBomb Data, and present this research at our annual event.
We are hugely proud of all our past participants and the compelling research they have produced over the last four years. We recently spoke to some previous participants to find out what they have achieved since presenting with us, and to ask them how the experience helped to get them where they are today.
Tahmeed is currently working as a Senior Data Scientist.
He presented at the StatsBomb Conference 2022 and used our 360 Data to quantify the effects of individual players on football actions using hierarchical statistical models.
StatsBomb (SB): Why did you choose to apply to the research competition, and what did you take away from the experience?
Tahmeed Tureen (TT): When I saw the announcement of a research competition at StatsBomb in 2022, I chose to apply as soon as possible. The decision to apply was straightforward for me because I thought I had an interesting research question that I had already been exploring and I wanted to share the work with the rest of the football community. I reached out to a former research collaborator of mine (Sigrid Olthof) and we chose to submit a proposal for the conference.
My experience with the research competition has been very rewarding. Not only was I able to present our work in front of an audience at the great Wembley Stadium, but I had many interesting discussions with people from many different backgrounds in the football analytics community. The discussions gave me the opportunity to view the game from different angles that I don't always think about. My favorite part was answering questions that people had about our research because it gave me the opportunity to defend the work as well as break the research down to more practical football analyses rather than mathematical ones.
It was also brilliant to chat with coaches and performance analysts who were at the conference and hearing about how they digest analytical work. Their practical opinions on the analytics side of sport made me think critically about the challenges clubs may face and have given me a deeper appreciation for football clubs from a structural point of view. The presentations from members of football clubs and organizations also amplified the experience as we got to hear about how they collaborate with the rest of their work teams.
I still follow football and will for the rest of my life, but the conference experience has given me an "inside look" at what football people do and it makes me enjoy the sport even more. I am still in touch with some of the people who I met at the conference and we chat about football almost every week.
Tahmeed’s research paper can be accessed here.
Gregory is currently a PhD student at the University of Southampton.
He presented at the StatsBomb Conference 2022 and assessed contextual expected threat using spatial event data.
(SB): Why did you choose to apply to the research competition, and what did you take away from the experience?
Gregory Everett (GE): I thought it would be a great opportunity to gain exposure in the field of data science in sport by presenting my work, whilst also being able to interact with many experts in the field. It helped me develop my networking and presenting skills, which I found very helpful given it was the first year of my PhD.
(SB): How did participating in the event help you?
(GE): It helped give me experience with presenting research to a crowd of industry experts. Meetings with Data Scientists at StatsBomb also gave me additional insights into identifying key research questions and suitable methods to achieve final goals.
Greg’s research paper can be accessed here.
Juan presented at the 2021 StatsBomb Conference. He used StatsBomb 360 Data to determine specific phases of play using graph convolutional networks.
At the time of his presentation, Juan was working as a Data Scientist. Since then, he has joined the Blue Crow analytics team where he had the opportunity to work alongside some of the pioneers in the data analytics field. Recently, he was recruited as a Senior Data Scientist in the analytics department at AS Roma.
(SB): Why did you choose to apply to the research competition, and what did you take away from the experience?
Juan Campos (JC): I chose to apply to the research competition for two reasons. First, I wanted to start contributing to the sports data analytics field. And second, I was eager to share my research ideas and get valuable feedback from experienced people in the field.
(SB): And how did participating in the event help you with this work?
(JC): The presentation at the StatsBomb Conference has been the best way of introducing myself to my most recent employees since it is a concrete project where I show not just my technical skills, but my ideas and communication skills. Also, the networking I did at the event has helped me discover different ways to add value to the clubs from a data point of view.
Juan’s research paper can be accessed here.
So...Why Apply?
We are currently accepting applications for the StatsBomb Conference Research Paper Competition.
"The StatsBomb Conference gets the best minds in the business in the same room."– Ricardo Furbino, Machine Learning Intern at Newagesports.
We have designed this competition to provide a platform for the most innovative research in sports analytics, whether that means theoretical or practical work. Both foundational and applied research is welcome.
The best applicants will be asked to present their findings to an audience of industry experts and professionals. This audience will ask questions, read your research paper, and you will all be invited to participate in unique networking opportunities throughout the day. Remember, you will be showcasing your work to specialists, some of whom will be looking to expand their teams.
"I thought it would be a great platform to present my thesis research and meet important people in the field, plus there was the chance to get access to a lot more data which would make for more interesting results."- Michael Pulis, Machine Learning Engineer at Driblab.
If you are thinking about applying, more than a dozen videos from past events are available to watch on our YouTube channel, with a specific StatsBomb Conference 2022 playlist set up for inspiration.
“The type of audience who are attracted to this conference are exactly the ones I am interested in. Now, we are in 2023 and I still hear from people who watch the presentation recording on YouTube and express their positive feedback.”- Hadi Sotudeh, Football Analytics Doctoral Student at ETH Zürich.
To present at a StatsBomb Conference is a great addition to any CV - and it is also a chance to learn about the most recent advances in the sports analytics field.
If you are selected, you will receive guidance and feedback on your research from our expert team of Data Scientists. On the day of the conference, you will be able to attend numerous talks and broaden your professional network with our StatsBomb team, a host of expert speakers, and our esteemed conference guests.
The call for proposals can be found here and the link to the online application form is here.
Submission Deadline: 9th June 2023
If you need any support with your application, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at conference@statsbomb.com
